Crafty Chics

Calling all Crazy Crafters!

2012-01-31T06:29:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Facebook the other day . . .

If I don't get on this show I want someone I know to be on it!

Are you a fan of Tags, Bags, Boxes and More?

2012-01-30T06:23:00.001-06:00

On just about EVERY scrapbooking related message board, forum or group that I join I can find a someone talking about how much they want the Cricut Cartridge Tags, Bags, Boxes and More which is now retired and you can usually only find for outrageous prices on auction websites. Well I found out that ProvoCraft is coming out with a SECOND version of this cartridge! Here are some preview images that I found

Thank you to Stamps Alive who took these great photos. If anyone would like to place a pre-order I believe they can contact Stamps Alive to do so.

Simply Sunday - Fantasy Land

2012-01-29T06:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Simply Sunday with the Getting Cricky Design Team!

Today is the day that the Getting Cricky Design Team gets to show off some of the projects they have created with the wonderful stamps from K Andrew Designs. Our theme for this week is Fantasy Land . . . this one is PERFECT for me! As many of you know, I have done SEVERAL Disney Themed cards with the K Andrew stamps . . . Boo from Monsters Inc, Sleepy, Happy, Grumpy, Pocahontas, Meeko, Jaq and Gus . . . and now for today's project Cinderella!

As a little girl it was always my fantasy to be Cinderella, so for my card I used a cut of Cinderella in her wedding dress, which is from the Disney Happily Ever After Cricut cartridge. I also used a corner cut from the Cricut Storybook cartridge.

The sentiment is from the K Andrew Positive Thoughts Stamp set. Perfect for any princess on her special day.

Don't the pearls on the this kind of look like a Hidden Mickey?

Make sure to stop by Getting Cricky to see what the rest of the Design Team has created, and you can even enter your OWN project into the challenge.

Do you need some ideas for the challenge?

If you own the Sponge Bob Cricut cartridge I bet you could come up with some cute cards using the Pirate Tales and Fish Scales stamp set. I also came up with several cute ideas with the Hello Kitty and Disney Cars cartridges . . . all using the K Andrew stamps!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Using masks on photos in MyMemoriesSuite

2012-01-28T06:45:00.002-06:00

The other day I told you that I figured out how to use a mask on a photo in the MyMemoriesSuite program. For some of you this might not sound like a big deal, but MyMemoriesSuite does not have a blending tool to "soften" the edges of your photos. It took some research . . . and I found comments on a forum that said that there was no way to "blend" or "soften" the edges of your pictures, but I was DETERMINED that there MUST be a way to do it.

I ended up having to apply the mask in Photoshop, and then save the photo and make it almost like a digital sticker. There are two parts to this process and here are two sites that had some good step by step instructions that I used for this process

http://everydaydigitalscrapbooking.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-use-photo-masks.html

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/photoshop/transparent/background.html

I will mention them in the video. I know this video is probably not that great . . . I did some stumbling around . . . but I wanted to get it out to you instead of re-recording it several times. I have only done videos a few times, so I am new to making them.

If you want to view the video full screen, here is the link . . . http://youtu.be/2PZfkWDhq5s

Okay . . . between that video and the links I posted above, you should be able to mask your photo and turn it into an element you can place into a digital scrapbook with the My Memories Suite software. But now how do you actually place that image? Here comes video number 2 . . . and the link for full screen
http://youtu.be/AHP2tc6xySU

Figuring out how to do this process really opened up a LOT of options for me with my digital scrapbooking. I could now take free clip art images I found online and use the Making Backgrounds Transparent info from this link . . .
http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/photoshop/transparent/background.html
which I talked about in the first video, and then make my OWN digital scrapbooking elements! Give it a try! It is really pretty easy! The MAIN thing I have to remember is to save those digital images as png files.

Sorry it's been so long . . .

2012-01-25T18:48:00.001-06:00

I have been busy trying to find handbooks to some of the NEWER Cricut Cartridges so that I can update them on MyCutSearch.com

Also, I have been working on the yearbook for my daughter's hockey team. I am using the MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking software, and I have only made one other book so I am still learning a few things as I go. One thing I learned how to do today is apply masks to pictures! Here is what I was able to do today. . . .

I love how the pictures "fade" into the background paper! So now that I know how to do this I want to make a video to show all of YOU how to do it also! I am hoping to do that in the next few days.

Also . . . I have been spending some time on Pinterest. If you are a fan of MyCutSearch, there is now a MyCutSearch Tips board on Pinterest. I have also created boards for the K Andrew Designs Stamp Sets and for the Stampin On The Edge BFF Stamp Set, so if you are fans of those stamps you can follow the board and see new projects as they are added. Here is a link to my page so you can find ALL of the boards I just mentioned . . . Pinterest

And the winners are . . . .

2012-01-22T11:03:00.000-06:00

Time to announce the winner for the Getting Crickey Simply Sunday last Sunday and the Blog Hop this past Friday.

Each of the following people will be getting a $10 Gift Certificate to Custom Crops!

(I will list the winner, and a link to their blog if they provided that information.)

Janice Aeschliman

janiceaeschliman.blogspot.com

Tami Bohannon

tamiscraftconnection.blogspot.com

Donna De Graw

scrappnana.blogspot.com

Tina Foley

Tfoley55.blogspot.com

CathyinMN

(I did not have Cathy's full name at the time of this post . . . I will update when I do)

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Leaving comments

2012-01-21T07:11:00.000-06:00

I have had a few people say that they could not leave comments on my blog recently. I had this same thing happen to me when I was trying to comment on blogs a few months ago. Here I would check if you are experiencing problems posting . . . this is straight from the Blogger Help Forum

1) If your users are Firefox/IE users they need to make sure they have 3rd Party Cookies installed.
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/config/EnableCookie.htm

2) If you have word verification turned on. People with popup blockers will probably have problems with this. It's advised to turn this off as Blogger now has Spam Filtering

3) If you make your comments Full Screen instead of Embedded/Popup then more people will be able to comment on your blog.

4) Check your Comments Tab to see if they are getting Moderated. Pay particular attention to the Spam section.

5) One thing to try, but backup your blog template first, is to try resetting all your defaults. see screenshot. You do this from the Design, Edit HTML screen.

6) If they are having trouble logging in get them to UNTICK the remember me checkbox

7) There is a KNOWN ISSUE affect IE8/9 users currently
http://knownissues.blogspot.com/2011/10/were-investigating-reports-of-users-not.html

Getting Cricky Blog Hop - U R SO SWEET

2012-01-20T19:00:00.032-06:00

Welcome to the "U R SO SWEET" Getting Cricky Blog Hop!!

We're so happy you could join us for this month's Getting Cricky Design Team Blog Hop!! We have an EXTRA SPECIAL hop for you this month -- All week long, the Design Team has been featuring many of Kristal's stamp sets in anticipation of the hop... If you've missed out on any of the week, be sure to check out our previous posts for MORE THAN 100 CREATIVE IDEAS and PROJECTS using Kristal's stamps as well as giveaways, promotions, tips, and tutorials!!

If you've hopped along from Kristal's site then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard, or reading this via email, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog (you'll want to catch up on all the FUN!!)...

Each of Kristal's stamp sets benefit charity. At least $1 per stamp set goes to benefit the charity noted on the stamp set package. Kristal is donating to the following charities: Cancer Angels, Storefront Shelter for Homeless Children, Intrepid & Fallen Heroes, E. Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Doorways Shelter for Women & Children (Domestic Violence), Wayside House for Women, Camp Good Days & Special Times, Adopt a Classroom, and Autism Research Institute. Kristal will donate $1 for every stamp set sold, retail or wholesale to the charity noted; and over time believes this will add up to some wonderful miracles for these special people. So you can feel good that each time you purchase a K Andrew Designs art stamp set, someone around the country is receiving some good help!

K Andrew's stamps are all made and assembled here in the USA, which is very important to Kristal. This ensures all product materials are safe and that jobs are being provided and maintained here in America. You can learn even more about Kristal's stamps (and pick some up for yourself) by visiting her online store: K Andrew Designs:

Kristal's stamp sets are perfect for cards, layouts, and so much more...

I decided to use the Owly Hoo stamp set.

There is a stamp that says "loves you" in this set, and I thought it worked perfect for one of the Valentine's Day cards that I wanted to make for my husband.

I have a nickname that has a pig reference in it, so that is why I went with the pig image for the card. If you don't own this stamp set you can purchase it by clicking HERE. There are a lot of great phrases you can mix and match for any occasion.

Right now Kristal is offering a special deal . . . .

Buy $25, get the Mini Heart Bonus Set for FREE!!

Now for some blog candy! How about some gift certificates to Custom Crops! Let's play a game to enter to win . . .

Those of you that know me know that my family created the website MyCutSearch.com and that I like to have everyone play a game with MyCutSearch.com in order to enter to win prizes. Since my card has a pig on it, let's go to MyCutSearch and search the word

pig

Then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com telling me how many Cricut handbook pages came up in the search for the word pig. Winner will be announced on Sunday January 22nd so make sure to stop back and see if you are the lucky winner!

Now you can hop on over to your next stop:
our favorite mermaid . . . Lisa!

........................................

My Cut Search - Hide/Display informaiton

2012-01-20T08:33:00.000-06:00

I have seen this question asked before . . . how do you know what the symbols stand for on the Pagoda Cartridge? I have two ways you can do this . . .

First, you can look at the handbook image that is indicated by the circle and arrow below. On each handbook page with a symbol, there is also a cut with the English word in the spot that I circled and indicated with the arrow below.

The second way is to use MyCutSearch.com. There is a Hide/Display button, which I have indicated with a circle and arrow in the image below. When you click on that icon and display more information all of the info below the handbook preview shows up . . .

As you can see, one of the things this will show you is the Keywords . . . these are the words that MyCutSearch.com uses to "find" this handbook page. As you can see by the oval and arrow, one of the terms for this handbook page is autumn, which is the English word for the symbol shown on this page.

Hope that helps!

New Cricut Cartridges - January 2012

2012-01-19T18:58:00.090-06:00

It is time for new Cricut cartridges to come out, and here are some previews of the ones for January 2012!

There is a new Cricut Imagine Art Cartridge for Greeting Cards . . . .

And a new Spanish/Latino inspired cartridge called Ole

And there is a new Font cartridge called Type Candy

Now you can celebrate ALL of the holidays with Elmo and the rest of the gang from Sesame Street with the new Elmo & Friends Holiday cartridge

There is a second font cartridge, but it is a Cricut Circle exclusive . . .

There is snow on the ground now, but it will be summer soon enough, and there is a new Lite cartridge for your summer fun

If you are having a baby, or throwing a baby shower, you should take a look at this cartridge . . .

Or maybe there is an upcoming wedding or bridal shower in your future . . .

I have seen so many projects recently with three-dimensional flowers, and here is a cartridge for those of you who love to use those flowers!

Remember the days before handheld video games where children would sit and read books. I remember having a few shape and color books that were always brought with any place where we would have to sit and wait quietly . . . now you could make your own version of those books

Make sure to come back tomorrow night for the Getting Cricky Blog Hop! There will be great projects and prizes!!!!

Valentine's Day card for my hubby

2012-01-19T06:05:00.002-06:00

This week several members of the Design Team are featuring projects with the stamps from K Andrews, and it all leads up to our Blog Hop on Friday January 20th.

Today I am sharing one of the cards that I will be giving to my husband this year . . . yes, I said one of them. We have this little "tradition" of getting each other one nice card and one that is just a little "naughty" . . . nothing rated R, but more PG-13.

For this card I used the Fall-O-Ween stamp set . . . yes, you heard me right, I used a Fall/Halloween stamp set for a Valentine's Day Card. Here is a preview of the set.

I used the words "to you" on my card, which was cut from the Wild Card Cricut cartridge.

I used some paper with bright pink lipstick kisses all over it for the main part of the gift, and then a bright teal blue bow, and then the little "to you" tag.

When you open the card the inside reads "Nice Package"
(hee, hee, hee)

If you would like to purchase this stamp set you can do so by clicking HERE.

If you are on Facebook make sure to RSVP to the hop at the event page. And if you ever feel like you need some inspiration for various uses for these stamps you can look through the Gallery, which is organized by stamp set, to see projects created by the Design Team.

Birthday card for my Brother-in-law

2012-01-18T06:21:00.009-06:00

This week several members of the Design Team are featuring projects with the stamps from K Andrews, and it all leads up to our Blog Hop on Friday January 20th.

Today I am sharing a card that I created for my Brother-in-law's birthday. Cards for men are ALWAYS hard for me. I love to use ribbon, glitter and bling, but those are just not "manly".

For this card I used the Wild Card Cricut cartridge.

I combined some fun patterned papers, and added a metallic silver frame around the center. Since my brother-in-law plays the guitar, I added a guitar sticker to the center. To finish things off I combined words from two different K Andrew stamp sets . . . the "ready, set . . . " is from the Crafty Friends stamp set, and the "Party" is from the Pirate Tales and Fish Scales stamp set.
If you would like to purchase this stamp set you can do so by clicking on the link in the stamp set name above.

If you are on Facebook make sure to RSVP to the hop at the event page. And if you ever feel like you need some inspiration for various uses for these stamps you can look through the Gallery, which is organized by stamp set, to see projects created by the Design Team.

Birthday Card for my Father-in-law

2012-01-17T06:23:00.008-06:00

This week several members of the Design Team are featuring projects with the stamps from K Andrews, and it all leads up to our Blog Hop on Friday January 20th.

Today I am sharing a card that I created for my Father-in-law's birthday.

Cards for men are always a challenge for me . . . I love to play with ribbons, glitter and bling but those just don't work on cards for men.

My Father-in-law really likes the sayings on the Scripture Sayings stamp set. Here is a preview of that stamp set . . .

For this card I also did a little cleaning up of some scraps I had sitting around.

I cut squares from some scrap papers in a similar color theme and pieced them together . . . kind of like a quilt.

If you would like to purchase this stamp set you can do so by clicking HERE.

If you are on Facebook make sure to RSVP to the hop at the event page. And if you ever feel like you need some inspiration for various uses for these stamps you can look through the Gallery, which is organized by stamp set, to see projects created by the Design Team.

Simply Sunday - Let it Snow

2012-01-15T06:37:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Simply Sunday with the Getting Cricky Design Team!

I made this card for my daughter, and I plan to give it to her for Valentine's Day. I had this made before I even realized that it fits PERFECT for today's challenge!

The card is cut from the Wild Card Cricut cartridge. I cut a white circle slightly smaller than the card and embossed it with my Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. To make the embossing really stand out, I used my pink ink pad across the top and edges of the circle. Then I cut a penguin from the Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridges . . . he is so cute! I added a bright pink heart with the stamped sentiment "Frosty Kisses" which was created from the K Andrew Winter Wishes stamp set.

Now for some blog candy! How about some gift certificates to Custom Crops! Let's play a game to enter to win . . .

Those of you that know me know that my family created the website MyCutSearch.com and that I like to have everyone play a game with MyCutSearch.com in order to enter to win prizes. Since my card has a penguin on it, let's go to MyCutSearch and search the word

penguin

Then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com telling me how many Cricut handbook pages came up in the search for the word penguin.

Make sure to stop by Getting Cricky to see what the rest of the Design Team has created, and you can even enter your OWN project into the challenge.

Hockey Tournament Signs

2012-01-14T06:04:00.000-06:00

Last year my daughter started playing hockey, and when the team had their tournament where we all stayed at a hotel I made door signs for all of the girls. You can click HERE to see last year's signs.

I wanted this year's signs to be different than last year, that way if the girls want to save the signs (like my daughter did) they will have a different one for each year.

I used the Sports Mania Cricut Cartridge to cut the hockey sticks and pucks. The stars are from George and Basic Shapes, and after I layered them I ran them through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder to give them some texture. The strip of red paper has a wood grain look to it. I liked this because it stayed with the team colors but added a little something different for a pattern.

Clear cards

2012-01-13T06:35:00.002-06:00

Well here is an idea that I had NEVER thought of before . . . clear cards! I saw a clear card created by my friend Amy Chomas and I just HAD to have her do a guest blog post so I could share it with all of you!

Take it away Amy . . . .

Ooooh I love me some clear cardstock for making cards!!! And my fav thing to do with it is etch into it with the Chomas Creations engraving tip!

One of my friends just had a baby girl, so I thought it would be fun to etch some baby designs that I downloaded from Studio (baby shapes), and then etched them with the Chomas Creations engraving tip as a border along the bottom of this card. It is hard to see in the picture, but click on it to get a better look.

I also used the It's a Girl design from Studio (It's A Girl design by Hero Arts ) to add to the front of the card. Layering on clear cardstock is my fav thing to do! I added this bracket design (2 layer tag) to the inside back of the card and for a place to write, I added a cream colored one to the back of the card.

Don't forget to use the coupon code january10 at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase in the Chomas Creations store!
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Thanks for sharing this project with us Amy! I cannot wait to give this a try for myself!

Cards of support

2012-01-11T06:07:00.000-06:00

Many of you know that I am passionate about a few things . . . crafting, Disney and hockey would all be on that list. There have been some stories in the new here recently about hockey players (one teenage boy and one teenage girl) that have been injured and the community is really coming together to show their support.

Here are links to stories on both of these players
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=954531

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=955299

If you would like to send a card, I found some addresses. I will be making some postcards for my daughter's hockey team to write words of support on.

Jack Jablonski Fund
P.O. Box 16387,
St. Louis Park, MN, 55416

Jenna Privette
c/o St. Croix Lutheran High School
1200 Oakdale Avenue
West St. Paul, MN 55118

Looking back . . . 2011 Cricut Cartridges in review

2012-01-10T06:05:00.012-06:00

I was looking back over the Cricut cartridges that were released in 2011 . . . partly because I was looking for handbooks online so that I could make sure that newer cartridges got listed on MyCutSearch.com . . . and I ended up with a list of ALL of the Hello Thursday Cricut cartridge releases for the entire year of 2011. Here is the list . . .

December 2011

Victorian Romance

Creative Memories This and That

Imagine: The Good Old Days

Imagine: Notebook Doodles

November 2011

Cricut Font and Basic Shapes

Snow Day (seasonal)

October 2011

Imagine: Floral Emporium

Imagine: Christmas Wish

Imagine: Santa’s Village

Stencil

Lite: Fast Food

Lite: Pet Shop

Lite: Sweater Weather

Go Canada!

New Testament

Noah’s ABC Animals

Ribbons and Rosettes

Creative Memories – ‘Tis the Season

Paper Trimmings

September 2011

Scandinavian Christmas Card

Imagine: Hey Diddle Diddle

August 2011

Chic & Scary Seasonal (Teresa Collins)

July 2011

Art Nouveu

Art Philosophy

Simply Scarecrows seasonal

Something to Celebrate

Sophie

June 2011

Girl’s Makeup Party

Princess Party

Robot Party

Space Party

Fancy Frames

Flower Shoppe

Sweet Tooth Boxes

Word Collage

Creative Memories Traveler

Summer Celebrations

Autumn Celebrations

Ornamental Iron 2

Phrases

Sophisticated (Teresa Collins)

Lite: 9 Months

Lite: Love You a Latte

Lite: Recess

Lite: Sweet Shop

County Fair (HSN Exclusive)

May 2011

Cricut Alphabet – From the E2

Just a Note – From the E2

April 2011

Rock Princess

Lite: Beep, Beep

Lite: Bump in the Night

Lite: Crocs Rule

Lite: Yee-Haw

Paper Lace 2

Imagine: Baby Boutique

Imagine: Black & White

Imagine: Vintage Damask

Cricut Decals

Cricut American Alphabet

Cricut Essentials – From the E2

Best Images of 2006

Best Images of 2007

Best Images of 2008

Best Images of 2009

Best Images of 2010

March 2011

Everyday Pop Up Cards

Damask Décor

Elegant Edges

Luau (Seasonal)

Father’s Day (Seasonal)

Happy Graduation (Seasonal)

Pop Up Neighborhood

February 2011

Imagine: Colors and Patterns Vintage Papers

Imagine: Heirloom Papers

January 2011

Formal Occasion

All Sports

Florals Embellished

This list does not include the Cricut Craft Room Exclusive Digital Cartridges . . . I am still trying to decide if we want to include those on the site.

Using your scraps - by Kristan

2012-01-09T05:29:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I showed you a card that I created by using scraps, and put out a challenge . . . show me what YOU can create with YOUR scraps. Well Kristan from http://sierrababy08.blogspot.com/ answered my challenge right away!

After seeing your scrap post I decided to take on your challenge and use up some scraps.

The card base is a scrap piece of paper that was not a full 8 1/2 by 11 . . . I had just used it for one of my layouts. To get the circles inked onto the page I took the negative cut from a circle i used and used it as a stencil. The other cuts are used from my nestabilites that I cut ahead of time and store for future use. The sentiment is from the Winged Things stamp set by from K Andrew Designs.

Great card Kristan! And what a great way to use up your scraps. Thank you for sharing it with us. If you would like to see more projects by Kristan be sure to stop by her blog.

All those little scraps . . .

2012-01-08T06:30:00.043-06:00

After all of the holiday crafting, is your craft table filled with lots of little scraps? I know mine is. There are pieces that just seem too big to throw out, or cuts that did not come out the right size for the intended project but could work (some day) for another project so I save them.

First, you you can relate to this, you might need to join the Facebook group Craft Hoarders. I am a paper hoarder, and it is nice to have support from others who understand my addiction.

So how about we put those scraps to good use and make something from them! The only rules are that 90% of the project needs to be made from scraps! Here is an example of a card that I made using some scraps I had.

I think that most of these circles were from the inside of a loop, ring or Letter O cut I made with my Cricut. I have a plastic baggie that I put all circle scraps into, and then I just went through it and sorted out colors that I thought worked together. Even the card base was a scrap . . . yes, a larger scrap, but still it was not a full sheet of paper I was using.

This could be a great way to use of scraps and make some quick thank you or "thinking of you" cards. I used a sentiment from the K Andrew Designs set called Positive Thoughts.

So show me what you can create with your scraps! I want to feature you as a Guest Designer on my blog! Just email me a picture of your project or a link to where you have it posted.

More on Share the Memories

2012-01-07T06:25:00.000-06:00

The other day I posted about how quickly and easily I was able to complete a scrapbook with the My Memories digital software program, and I mentioned that one of the things I really loved was the free papers, embellishments and layouts you can download. This way if you are feeling creatively challenged you can use a layout that was created by someone else . . . and then if you want to add a few of your OWN things to it to personalize it you can do that also.

Here are some examples of three new free kits you can download.

Click HERE to download the first kit.

Click HERE to download the second kit.

Click HERE to download the third kit.

Now to show you how to use one of these sets to make a quick and easy layout, but still give it some of your own personality. I took one of the Quick Pages from the last kit and created this page in a matter of minutes.

After I inserted the large photo of my daughter into the large frame that came with this Quick Page, and then added two smaller photo boxes to the right and rotated them each slightly and inserted a couple more photos.

For matting all of the photos I just clicked on one of the photos and then in the control panel clicked on the MAT option. This allowed me to pick the color and size of the mat. I wanted to use the orangish color that was in the scrap of cardboard in the lower right color, so I went to the Picker tab and this allowed me to zoom in on sections of the layout and "pick" one of the colors already in the layout as the mat color. You could also pick a color in the photo, if you wanted to match a mat exactly to the clothing of the person in the picture. There is also a box you can check that allows you to apply this size and color mat to all images on a page, which is what I used.

Then I added a shape . . . a rectangle . . . and stretched it to a long skinny strip and instead of just filling it with color I filled it with an aqua colored patterned paper. I then added shadow to this, and copied it so I had three strips to place on my layout.

Now, to get the aqua strip to go UNDER the small square photos on the right, right click on the aqua strip and you will get options . . . move to front, move backwards, etc. I moved the aqua piece backwards so that it went under my photos.

Then I added a curled paper element I had. DONE. Seriously, it took longer to type up this post and explain how I did it than it took to actually MAKE the layout! The other great thing is that not only do I have these Quick Pages, but now I have all of the elements, like the torn cardboard element, that I could use in OTHER scrapbook pages. When you download these free kits you get all of those "little pieces" . . . you are not held to just using the Quick Page that someone else created. What do I mean? Well, here is a second page I created

Wouldn't this be nice as a companion page to the first one? And look, I used one of the papers from the first layout as my background paper, and then I layered the torn cardboard elements (from this set and one of the other free download sets) and then I pulled in some rolled flower elements I had. Again, all of the shadows were added by just clicking on an element and then the Shadow button in the main control panel. Easy!

Would you like to give digital scrapbooking a try?

If you use the code

STMMMS69390

you can get $10 off the My Memories software!

Just go to MyMemories.com to download the software and then you can start looking at the free kits and papers so that you can create your own digital scrapbooks too.

Getting ready for Valentine's Day

2012-01-06T06:48:00.000-06:00

If you are trying to come up with ideas for Valentine's Day cards and decorating then make sure you join us for the Getting Cricky U R SO SWEET Valentine's Day Blog Hop on Friday, January 20th. If you are on Facebook make sure to go to the blog hop page so you have all of the details and can RSVP . . . then you will get the Facebook reminder when the hop starts!

Also, for the week before the hop several of the design team members will be showing off projects ALL WEEK!!!! If you ever feel like you need some inspiration for various uses for these stamps you can look through the Gallery, which is organized by stamp set, to see projects created by the Design Team.

Scrapbooking Layout

2012-01-05T05:13:00.000-06:00

Today I want to share a page from a digital scrapbook that I did. I really like how this page turned out . . . even though it is a digital scrapbook page, the items on the page really have such depth. One of the things that kept me away from digital scrapbooking for so long was that I thought that a digital scrapbook would look "flat". I like that fact that the different layers of papers and embellishments add depth to a page. But this page shows that you can have that same depth with a digital page.

The background looks like it was embossed, and those little beads and ribbons look so real . . . and I did not have to glue all of those beads down, and have some fall off the table and roll around for someone to step on later!

I used the MyMemories.com software to do this book, and I really love how easy it is to use! I created the entire scrapbook in just a couple of days!

The paper and the main embellishment I used for this page were in packs that I purchased for less than $3, or they were in free packs. The numbers for the 2011 were just added with the text button . . . just like a Word Document you have lots of fonts to choose from.

One thing I really like is that there are free kits that you can download. I check the My Memories site every few weeks to see what new items have been added to the Free section and download anything that I like. If I am not using it for a project NOW I might use it later, and you might as well get it while it is free.

Would you like to give digital scrapbooking a try?

If you use the code

STMMMS69390

you can get $10 off the My Memories software!

Just go to MyMemories.com to download the software and then you can start looking at the free kits and papers so that you can create your own digital scrapbooks too.

Need some new stamps?

2012-01-04T06:55:00.000-06:00

You have to check out the new stamps by K Andrew Designs! Love is in the air with these new stamps.

First, here is a mini-set that you can get for FREE if you purchase BOTH of the new Valentine's Day sets, or spend $25 or more at K Andrew Designs!

Now let's check out the new Valentine's Day sets!

These sets would be great for Valentine's Day, weddings or anytime that you want to tell someone that you love them. Head over the K Andrew Designs to order yours NOW!

For you or for the crafter in your life

2012-01-03T06:17:00.000-06:00

Since so many of you LOVE the DVD's from Above Rubies Studio I wanted to let you know that they now have gift certificates!

ARS Gift Certificates are a great way to give to others.

How does it work?
After you purchase a Gift Certificate, an email is sent to to the recipient with a special code, PIN number and printable confirmation PDF. The recipient could be yourself, a friend or a family member.

Certificates work just like real cash!
You can put the balance of your gift certificate towards your total order... including shipping. So, if your total order was $15 and your gift certificate had a balance of $25 including shipping or any other costs, you wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket and you would still have $10 left on your Gift Certificate to spend.

How long does the certificate last?
There is no expiration, use them whenever you like.

* Get 25% OFF Gift Certificates! It's like getting a guaranteed discount! * LIMITED TIME * Add one or more gift certificates to your cart to apply the discount. Click HERE.

So you could go and buy a gift certificate for yourself, save 25% on it, and then go and purchase the DVD that you have been wanting to get!

For Above Rubies Studio Affiliate Program members this is a GREAT offer to promote on your site . . . just do a little blog post like I did and share it on message boards or Facebook. Your followers can save some money while you make commission!

Where in the world has Shawn been?

2012-01-02T06:23:00.006-06:00

I know I have been MIA and I wanted to fill all of you in on what is up. New day job is taking up a LOT of my time and I knew I would have the week between Christmas and New Year's off and figured I could craft my little heart out, but that plan changed. I friend of mine has a friend who lost a baby and wanted a Memorial Scrapbook made. So in between the Christmas activities I was focused on getting that done . . . I wanted to get it completed and to the family since these are the ONLY pictures of the baby that they have . . . the poor little thing was just over a pound when it was born . . . it was a VERY emotional book to make.

I decided to do a digital scrapbook for this project. All of the pictures were on a CD or a memory card, so this made it easy for me . . . I did not have to print anything out . . . just grab them from the computer and go. Also, I was able to easily crop or digitally edit any pictures I wanted to use.

I really want to share this scrapbook with all of you because I love the way the digital layouts turned out, but I do want to remove the images of the baby before I post the layouts online, but here is the cover of the book.

The family wanted it to be bright and cheery, and they told me that the like bright and bold colors.

I used the MyMemories.com software to do this book, and I really love how easy it is to use! Another thing I really like is that there are free kits that you can download. Now I can get started and give it a try without investing a lot of money, and then if I like scrapbooking this way I can add on a few things here and there.

So, do YOU want to try out this program for yourself? Well if you use the code

STMMMS69390

you can get $10 off the software!

Just go to MyMemories.com to download the software and then you can start looking at the free kits and papers so that you can create your own digital scrapbooks too.

New Year . . . new supplies!

2012-01-01T08:10:00.000-06:00

I hope that all of you had a safe and Happy New Year's Eve! So, today is the first day of a new year and if you ask me that means we need some new crafting supplies! If your New Year's resolution was to save money, then these coupons will help you to stay on track!

Angels

2011-12-20T06:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my brother-in-law asked if I would make the card from all of the grandkids to Grandpa . . . we are giving him one big giftcard from all of the grandkids.

I used a sentiment from the K Andrew Designs Scripture Sayings set. This set is on sale for $16.99 right now.

On the inside I wrote "Merry Christmas from all of Grandpa's Angels"

Guest Blog Post ~

2011-12-19T06:20:00.000-06:00

Today we have a guest blog post from Lori at Scrappin My Stress Away. Ironically, the project that she created for today is one I have been wanting to try to do myself.

Hi. Lori here from ScrappinMyStressAway with a great last minute Holiday gift you can make for a friend or family member. I am delighted to be a Guest Designer for my friend Shawn today. I use her MyCutSearch website all the time to find images and fonts on my cricut cartridges. It is much better than the search on my Gypsy ~ and those who know me know my Gypsy is pretty much attached to my wrist!!!

I saw something similar on Pinterest on a glass block and decided to modify it for my good friend. I used a lot of cartridges to create this look:

Smile is from Hello Kitty Font at 1.24 inches
Friends and Dream are from Hannah Montana at 1.24 and 1.31 inches
Faith is from Home Accents at 2.10 inches
Home is also from Home Accents at 1.78 inches
Journey is from Nate's ABCs at 1.46 inches rotated 90 degrees
Inspire is from Home Accents at 1.92 inches
Family is from Gypsy Wanderings at 2.38 inches
Love is from Home Accents at 4.58 inches
Forever is from Hello Kitty Font at 1.54 inches rotated at -90 degrees
Miller is welded from Quarter Note at 2.62 inches

I hid the dot on the i and replaced it with a heart from George at .45 inche

These measurements were a trial and error on size and font and can easily be switched with other fonts and sizes and words that are meaningful to you!

I cut this out from gold vinyl. When cutting vinyl, I set my Expression on 3, 3; 3 (pressure, speed and blade depth) to cut through just the vinyl not the paper backing. This is called a kiss cut. When weeding away the extra pieces of vinyl, it is helpful to roll it so the extra vinyl does not stick to your project. Be careful of the dots from the i's as they sometimes like to get weeded away!

I use my dental tool to weed out the inner cuts.

I use clear contact paper as my transfer tape. It is super sticky, so I de-stick it a bit with my jeans.

I smooth the clear contact paper over my vinyl and burnish it with my scraper.

Starting at one corner, I carefully peel up the contact paper. If part of the vinyl stays behind, I put the contact paper back down and burnish some more. Vinyl is very forgiving!!

Once the vinyl all on the contact paper, I place it over a 12x12 tile I purchased at Lowe's for around $1. I burnish it again and carefully peel up the contact paper.

All this tile needs is an easel and then it can be displayed on a shelf, table or counter. I saved my project in my Gypsy so I can easily change the name or some of the words to suit another friend (or even me)!! If you get brave, you can even use different colors of vinyl!!!

Thanks so much Shawn for having me over today to play!!! I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy 2012!!

Getting Cricky Simply Sunday - Christmas Blessings

2011-12-18T06:15:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Simply Sunday with the Getting Cricky Design Team!

I have been so busy I have not had time to make anything but please stop by Getting Cricky to see what the rest of the Design Team has created, and you can even enter your OWN project into the challenge.

I miss my Cricut

2011-12-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

It is a good thing my Cricut has this nice little blanket of a cover (made by my crafting sistah CardMonkey) to keep it warm, because I have not been using it much recently.

I have been so busy with my new day job that I cannot even remember the last time I was in my craft room! That is sad! By the time I get home from work, especially in this past couple of weeks, I am so tired I just want to plop down on the couch!

And the times that I don't hit the couch or go to bed early, I am at the ice arena watching my daughter play hockey. She scored her first goal of the season in a tournament last weekend. Here is a video clip. Watch #30 in the red jersey/white helmet go racing for that puck, catch the rebound and then take it around the net for a nice little wrap around.

So that is what I have been up to . . . I hope that all of you are enjoying the holidays and are finding more time for crafting then I am!

Need a Christmas gift for the Cricut owner on your list?

2011-12-11T11:31:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a gift for the Cricut owner on your Christmas list? How about the Cricut Cards for Any Occasion DVD!

Today only you can purchase this DVD for only $7.50!

Click HERE to get yours now

Head over to Above Rubies Studio Store now . . . these deals won't last!

Winter Birthday Wishes

2011-12-11T07:21:00.000-06:00

I cut the actual snowman out of white glitter paper, and I used my Expression so that I could use the Multi-Cut function. This allowed me to cut the same image twice right on top of where the original cut was. I found that this works really well when you are cutting through thicker paper, like the glitter paper.

The hat, scarf, arms and nose are all combined in one cut, but I cut it from both brown and orange paper so that I could do the hat and arms in brown, and the nose in orange. For the scarf I actually layered the two cuts by cutting off the fringe of the orange scarf and layering it over the brown scarf cut.

Paper Layerz

2011-12-10T07:23:00.000-06:00

Have you been wanting to try out the new Paper Layerz by Megan at Above Rubies Studio? If so, today would be the day to do it! Today only, when you purchase a Paper Layerz Pack you get a the Paper Layerz DVD FREE!!!!

Great cardstock in colors that coordinate perfectly for your favorite projects, plus a free DVD with tons of inspiration . . . what more could you ask for!

Head over to Above Rubies Studio Store now . . . these deals won't last!

Do you own the Teresa Collins Stampmaker?

2011-12-09T07:13:00.003-06:00

I personally do not own this, but if I did I know I would look at it and say "Where do I start!?!?!?"

Well Megan at Above Rubies Studio has taken care of that for you! She has a DVD called The Teresa Collins Stampmaker A to Z. Megan will walk you through how to make WONDERFUL projects step by step.

And today only the Teresa Collins Stampmaker DVD is 60% off!!!!! You read that right . . . it is only $9.99 today only!

Head over to Above Rubies Studio Store now . . . these deals won't last!

Remembering our loved ones we have lost at Christmas

2011-12-08T07:18:00.004-06:00

1999 was an emotional year in our house . . . in April my husband and were married, that fall we found out we were pregnant, at Thanksgiving we found out that my mother-in-law had cancer and then she died on Christmas Eve . . . all in the same year.

What does this have to do with a crafting blog? Well, the family recieved so many flowers at my mother-in-law's funeral and since I am a crafty person one of the cousin's suggested that I hang the flowers upside-down to dry out and then use the flowers in items for the entire family. I thought that this was a lovely way to preserve the flowers and pay tribue to my mother-in-law. Since she died on Christmas Eve, I decided to make Christmas ornaments for each family member with the roses we dried and saved. Oh . . . it was extra special to use the roses because my mother-in-law's first name was Rose.

I took simple acrylic ornamets that snap together in the middle, and hot glued one of the roses and baby's breath to the inside. Then when I snapped it shut I covered the seam with ribbons and trim that I have left over from making the floral arrangments for our wedding that same year.

Attached to the ornamet is a tag with this poem on it . . .

In the garden of the heart,
Love's spirit ever grows,
As sweet memories unfold
Like the petals of a rose.
And love's beauty offers comfort
To soften thorns of sorrow,
For knowing love endures
Gives hope for each tomorrow.
May this Rememberance Rose
Be a comforting reminder
Of love that lives forever.

Every year when my children put these ornaments on the tree they call them the "Grandma Mosch ornaments". It is hard to believe that this year is the ten year anniversary of the year that she died.

Merry Christmas Rose! We miss you and you are still with us in our hearts.

Attention Imagine Owners!!!

2011-12-07T13:19:00.000-06:00

Have you been wishing someone would show you how to use your Imagine and get the most out of it? Well here is the answer to your prayers . . . .

Above Rubies Studio has discounted the price of the Imagine A to Z DVD for today only!!!!!!

It was $24.97 and today only it is $12.49!!!!!

Head over to Above Rubies Studio Store now . . . these deals won't last!

Christmas Scrapbooking Layout

2011-12-07T07:16:00.004-06:00

Here is a scrapbooking layout that I loved so much for Christmas pictures. I have used it in my own books, and also in a book I did for another family. It is simple, but cute.

After I placed the pictures on the page, I drew a black swirling line around the outer borders of the page. Then I used my Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge I cut the Christmas light bulbs out of a variety of colors. If you wanted to give the bulbs more "shimmer" you could cut them from glitter or metallic papers. If you do not have a Cricut, you could purchase stickers.

GREAT deal!!!!!

2011-12-06T19:11:00.000-06:00

I just found out . . . man, I wish I would have know this earlier so I could have gotten the word out sooner . . .

Above Rubies Studio has discounted prices on two of their most popular DVD's TODAY ONLY!!!!!

Cricut A to Z DVD was $22.97 but today only

$14.93

This is a great way to learn to use your Cricut, or as a gift for someone that is getting a Cricut for Christmas.

The Gypsy A to Z DVD was $24.97 but today only

$16.23

Megan will show you the secrets to getting the most out of your Gypsy.

Head over to Above Rubies Studio Store now . . . these deals won't last!

Go ahead . . Laugh!

2011-12-06T06:25:00.000-06:00

I have been having a lot of fun with one particular stamp set called Positive Thoughts by K Andrew Designs. When I got this stamp set I started to get all kinds of ideas for Disney Themed projects. Here is a preview of the stamp set . . . can you think of any Disney Themed projects you could make with these stamps?

Well here is what I came up with for today.

I thought that the combination of Grumpy with this phrase was cute.

If you want to see other cards I have created with this stamp set . . . some of them Disney Themed . . . click HERE.

Christmas Ornament

2011-12-05T07:12:00.009-06:00

Here is a Christmas ornament that my sister-in-law made. At the time, she did a lot of beading, and jewelry making.

I really like how simple this ornament is, and how she combined the different colors. Then, at the top, she twisted the wire into a swirl pattern for the hook to hang the ornament. You could make these with colored beads, like she did, or use all white and silver beads so that they look like fresh snowflakes.

Do you have a favorite Christmas ornament you have made? Contact me HERE and tell me about it and maybe I can feature it here on my blog! I would love to show off some ornaments that others have made.

Getting Cricky Simply Sunday - Joys of the Season

2011-12-04T06:12:00.021-06:00

Welcome to Simply Sunday with the Getting Cricky Design Team!

I created something that could be used as a Christmas decoration, or even as a gift tag for your gifts.

I cut a tag shape with my Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridge out of a gold patterned paper at 3 1/2" and then out of a dark green at 2 3/4". I then used my Winter Wishes stamp set to create the three different phrases, No Peeking, Merry Christmas and Ho Ho Ho. I think that the white ink really POPPED off of the deep green paper! Then I tied the two size cuts together with some gold tulle.

These could be used as ornaments on the tree, tied into garland or as gift tags.

I would like to offer you some blog candy . . . or maybe I should say blog popcorn!

I want to tell you about Freedom Snacks! They have gourmet popcorn in a flavor to please everyone on your Christmas list!

Holiday Blend: Cherry and Green Apple

Confetti: Grape, Cherry, Banana, Pina Colata, Grape,

Orange, Lemon, Cinnamon, Blueberry and Watermelon

Banana Split: Banana, Chocolate, Cherry, Vanilla

Freedom Blend: Cherry, Vanilla, Blueberry

S'mores: Chocolate with Marshmallows and Graham Crackers

Caramel Apple: Green Apple and Caramel

Chocolate Mint: Chocolate peppermint flavor with crushed peppermints

Pumpkin Spice: Pumkin with secret spices

For today's prize they are offering up a 3 bag gift set! Your choice of three flavors for your own gift pack! You could keep the gift for yourself, or create a gift tag like the ones I made and give it to someone you know.

Those of you that know me know that my family created the website MyCutSearch.com and that I like to have everyone play a game with MyCutSearch.com in order to enter to win prizes. Since today's prize is popcorn, let's go to MyCutSearch and search the word

popcorn

Then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com telling me how many Cricut handbook pages came up in the search for the word popcorn.

Make sure to stop by Getting Cricky to see what the rest of the Design Team has created, and you can even enter your OWN project into the challenge. And don't forget to go over and check out all of the products at Freedom Snacks. If you are on Facebook, you can find them HERE. You can also find their blog HERE.

Holiday Wall Decor

2011-12-03T07:05:00.012-06:00

I have some art on the wall near our dining room table, and every year I like to change it out at Christmas time . . . the floral artwork just seems awkward at Christmas time.

To start with, I found two 5x7 frames that I liked, and then I picked to images from the Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge.

For the first one I used a glossy paper with a green tone on tone pattern of holly leaves on it. I then cut out the "Ho, Ho, Ho" image from the Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge from a red and white striped paper that had a candy cane feel. I then cut out the same "Ho, Ho, Ho" image from solid red paper in the shadow function and backed the striped "Ho, Ho, Ho" and then I mounted that on the green holly paper.

For the second frame I decided to cut out a Christmas tree from the Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge. I cut this out in a rich green paper, and used a wood grain paper for the trunk of the tree. I did the shadow of this image in a softer green color, and mounted the entire thing on a red glossy paper with a tone on tone image of snowflakes. To top things off, I added a star to the top of the tree that I punched out of metallic silver paper, and used several different metallic colored papers to create the shimmering lights on the tree.

I think that these made great Christmas decorations, and these layouts could easily become Christmas cards.

If you are looking for scrapbooking or Cricut items, be sure to check out our Amazon store.

Winter birthday card

2011-12-02T07:11:00.009-06:00

Today is my sister's birthday, and this is the card that I created for her using the Winter Wishes stamp set from K Andrew Designs.

One thing that I REALLY like about this stamp set is the fact that you can mix and match the words to create your own phrases, so the number of phrases are only limited by your imagination! And if you own any of the OTHER mix and match sets from K Andrew Designs you could create even MORE phrases by combining words from several of the different stamp sets!

I used the words Frosty Fun on my card, and then I embellished the background paper by adding snowflakes, also from the Winter Wishes set, to some of the squares.

You wanted the best . . .

2011-12-01T06:39:00.014-06:00

If you know anything about the band KISS you know that at the beginning of all of their concerts they announce "You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world . . . KISS!" Now, I have never been to a KISS concert, but I married into a family with three brothers who grew up listening to and loving KISS. And now I have a daughter that also loves KISS. My daughter was so happy when KISS came in concert and she was able to go to the concert with her Dad.

The two pictures in the upper left are before the concert, and the two in the lower right are the next day wearing their new KISS concert shirts. In true rock star style they had to do a pose with their tongues sticking out like Gene Simmons. I was able to include the concert tickets and the confetti that fell in the finale . . . that is what those little white stripes of paper are.

Birthday Layout

2011-11-30T06:32:00.015-06:00

Now that my new craft room is getting organized I am finding some time to get some crafting done. Over the Thanksgiving weekend I did a few scrapbook layouts. This one is of my niece's first birthday.

As you can see, I was in a circle mood. I cut most of the pictures from the birthday into circles and then had them bubbling and popping all over the page.

Even the background paper has circles on it. This was a good way to use up some of my scraps. I had a lot of small pieces that I could cut the smaller circles out of, and every place that you see a large circle I cut a smaller circle out of the inside so that I could use that in another spot on the layout or save it for another project. (Yes, I am a paper hoarder)

Do you think I have enough paper?

2011-11-29T06:26:00.016-06:00

I got a HUGE response from all of you about the scrapbook paper tower that my husband made for me. If you missed that post you can click HERE to go back and check it out.

Several people left me comments about having fun filling up the tower with paper . . . well, let me tell you that did not take long! I guess I did not even know how much paper I had! Now, not all of the slots are "full" because I have things sorted by color, and then divided between solid and patterned paper (I had NO IDEA how much green patterned paper I owned! That slot has the most in it!)

So, here is the tower after I moved and sorted all of my paper . . .

So, do you think I have enough paper? Did you notice my silver sequined Mickey Mouse ears displayed on top of the tower? I got those on our last trip to Disney, but never had a good place to display them.

I spent a lot of time Thanksgiving weekend moving and sorting paper, and moving my crafting supplies into the new room. I will post more pictures later, but right now the rest of the room is a little bit of a mess . . . I just brought the piles of stuff up into the room, and now I have to figure out the best system for where I need things.

Attitude is Everything!

2011-11-28T04:35:00.000-06:00

Well here is what I came up with for today.

I thought the combination of Grumpy and Happy was PERFECT for the phrase "Attitude is Everything"

If you want to see other cards I have created with this stamp set . . . some of them Disney Themed . . . click HERE.

Make some money this holiday season!

2011-11-27T06:12:00.000-06:00

Wouldn't be nice if we could MAKE MONEY at the holidays to offset some of the spending we will be doing? Well if you have a blog or website, you can . . . through Affiliate Marketing!

If you have not read the info that I have put together at Making Money with Crafts, I would recommend reading that page as it contains some good background information on Affiliate Marketing.

One of the best way to make money that I have found is Affiliate Marketing. I believe the key to good Affiliate Marketing is targeting the right people. You can be involved in as many programs as you want, but if the information is not getting to the right people then it is not going to work for you. Since this is a crafting blog, I am going to guess you came here because you enjoy crafts just as I do. So let's look at ways to use Affiliate Marketing specifically with crafts, but really this information could be translated into any topic.

Find products you like and see if they have an affiliate marketing program. If you shop there, chances are other crafters shop there (or would like to shop there)

Now, none of these on their own will allow you to quit your day job next week, but they can help to provide a little extra income . . . for the holidays or to support your crafting supply needs. And, if one of them could even bring in an extra $50 per month, if you have MULTIPLE programs going on you can see how those numbers could increase.

Here are some of the programs that I use and like. With Above Rubies Studio Affiliate Marketing Program and Square One Affiliate Marketing Program not only can you make commission on the product sales that YOU generate, but if someone signs up from YOUR affiliate link then you will also earn a small commission on the sales THAT person generates! Not all affiliate marketing programs offer this, and it is an extra nice feature. This really encourages people to talk about the products and program. People who sign up off of your affiliate program link are commonly called your "downline", and if you have a large downline your chances of generating more money increases.

Another program that I like is the ContainYa Crafts Affiliate Marketing Program. If you are looking for area to sign up it is at the top of the page. You can either go to My Account and create an account, or there is a link that says Affiliate Program (just after the Testimonials section)

Once you sign up you will be able to pick from banners and ads that you can post on your website, blog, in emails or on Facebook . . . some groups have restrictions, so be sure to read the rules for each program.

Here is a collection of different buttons and banner ads from some of the other companies that have affiliate marketing programs.

ScrapbookPal.com

This is just a sampling of the ads . . . it really depends on the company as to weather they have ones for specific products, square buttons, horizontal banner ads, etc. Some of the companies will change out their banners with the seasons or for specific lines of products, so that you can customize your advertising to fit the type of people that come to your site.

I hope that this has shown you that there are ways for you to generate some income from the crafting blog that you already have, and really how much you do is up to you! Put the buttons on your site and hope for the best, or talk about the program and really stir up some excitement for the program and the products. If there is one of these companies or products that you already own, use and enjoy I would say that would be the first place to start. It will come easy for you to just share your positive experience with the company/product with others.
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For more tips on Affiliate Marketing click HERE. If you are looking for tips/information specifically about the Above Rubies Studio Affiliate Program I will also have information HERE.

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Small Business Saturday

2011-11-26T06:31:00.024-06:00

I think most people have heard of Black Friday, but did you know that today is Small Business Saturday? Today you are encouraged to support your small businesses. I received an email from Custom Crops telling me that they were doing a special promotion today . . . you could get $25 credit from American Express if you shop with Custom Crops today and spend more than $25.

Find out more about how to register your American Express card for this event by going to http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday and then go shopping!

Some other small businesses that I would encourage you to shop

Above Rubies Studio

Webmasters Earn Money Here!

ContainYa Crafts

K Andrew Designs Stamps
My personal favorite stamp set is the Positive Thoughts set . . . but maybe that is just because I have thought of so many Disney themed cards to use this set for. Here is a preview of the set.

Head over the K Andrew Designs to check out all of her stamp sets!

Black Friday Deals!

2011-11-25T02:17:00.002-06:00

It's Black Friday, but you don't have to go out and stand in long lines to get some great deals . . . let's shop from home!

ContainYa Craft is having a great sale on some of their most popular products!

Scrap'n Easel - Was $79.99 . . . today $55.99
Scrap'n Light - Was $74.99 . . . today $52.49
Scrap'n Tote - Was $89.99 . . . today $62.99

Click HERE to head over and grab these deals!

Megan at Above Rubies Studio has a NEW CHRISTMAS DVD!

In this new DVD Megan will show you great holiday projects and ideas . . . cards, home decor, ornaments and MORE!

As a bonus, when you order the DVD you get a free sample of Megan's new adhesive squares Stick Itz. Plus they are doing a Black Friday Special . . . buy any 2 items and get FREE shipping!

There are limited quantities of the free pack of Stick Itz with the DVD so hurry over to Above Rubies Studio and get yours now. I will make it easy for you . . . just click HERE.

Thankful

2011-11-24T07:04:00.005-06:00

I am thankful for so many things. For my family, the success of our website MyCutSearch.com, being the Above Rubies Studio Affiliate Program Success Coach, being a part of the Getting Cricky Design Team, and for all of my wonderful blogger buddies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

and the winners are . . .

2011-11-23T18:34:00.001-06:00

Here it is, the winners from the Blog Hops last weekend

From the Getting Cricky Blog Hop, winner of a ScrapBand

Cathy Sobotka

The winners of the $25 Gift Certificates to Custom Crops are

Jen Reed

Jen's blog is http://justcreativeme.blogspot.com/

and

Lara Class

And the GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Who correctly guessed the secret phrase "Happy Birthday to Melissa"

and who will be getting her choice of a
Scrap N Tote or a Scrap N Easel is . . .

Pat Noppenberger
Pat's blog is http://patsscraps.blogspot.com

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Another project, from my husband

2011-11-23T06:30:00.000-06:00

I got a LOT of great feedback and comments about the scrapbooking paper storage tower that my husband made for me . . . if you missed that post, you can go HERE. Well, today I want to talk about the OTHER thing that my husband made for my new crafting space.

The space is also going to be used as a guest room, and we have a twin sized bed in there . . .

I wanted to figure out a way to turn this space into another work surface. Since the headboard and footboard are the same height, I figured that if we made some kind of platform that just sat on top of the headboard and footboard I would be able to work on it, and then when we had guests and needed the bed we could lift the work surface off.

Are you ready . . . here is what this bed looks like now!

Yes, I have already started to pile stuff on the work surface, but hey, that is what it is for!

Here is a close up of the end so you can see how it just sits on top. I need to add some felt to the underneath so it does not scratch the bed frame at all. Since it just sits on top we can remove it when we need the bed and we did not have permanently attach it to the bed.

He added supports underneath also so that I can set heavier things, like my Circut, on the surface also. I am looking forward to the long Thanksgiving weekend so I can spend a lot of time in this new craft space!

winners . . . really, it is coming soon!

2011-11-22T19:53:00.000-06:00

I know I have winners to announce, from the Getting Cricky Blog Hop, the Disney Pixar Blog Hop and the Grand Prize winner of the Scrap N Tote or Scrap N Easel, but I like to include links to the winners blogs (if they have them) I have emailed the winners and I am waiting to hear back from them.

some updates . . .

2011-11-22T06:04:00.001-06:00

You know how you feel the day after you come home from a great vacation? Sort of like you need one more day to recover from the vacation before you jump back into work. That is always how I feel after a Disney Pixar Blog Hop! They are SO MUCH FUN, but I feel like I need a day or two to get back into the groove of the week.

Winners from the weekend hops will be announced later on today . . . sorry, I have been so busy I have not had time to pick the winners yet.

Speaking of being busy, I thought I would take this time to let all of you know that my blog post might become a little more sporadic. I have been updating my blog DAILY for well over a year now, which is a pretty amazing feet if you ask me, but my life is getting busier. Here is just a few things I am doing . . .

I have a new daytime job that has a longer commute, so the time I spend in the car each day has more than tripled!

It is hockey season, and I love to watch my daughter play, so the time I used to spend on the weekends crafting is now spent in the ice arena.

I volunteered to make the yearbooks for my daughter's hockey team this year. (What was I thinking!) And since I don't want to do 12 "traditional" scrapbooks I have been trying to learn digital scrapbooking. This leaves less time for my own personal crafting projects, but as I learn I may be able to share tips with you on digital scrapbooking.

I am on the Design Team for Getting Cricky so I am always thinking of ideas for new cards and projects featuring the wonderful stamps that Kristal makes.

As many of you know, I have agreed to work with Megan and Sean of Above Rubies Studio as the ARS Affiliate Program Success Coach. (Just the TITLE is a mouthful!) I will be sharing marketing tips, training videos and information to help make the ARS Affiliate Program a success for everyone involved!

So if you don't see me posting here or on Facebook daily, this is why. I am still here, but my personal crafting might take a back seat while I get into the groove for all of the things I am doing. Once I settle into a few things and become more comfortable in some of my new roles I know that things will become easier and I will have more time for my own crafting and blogging again.

A little more Disney fun . . .

2011-11-21T06:01:00.003-06:00

I want to thank everyone that was a part of the Disney Pixar Blog Hop this weekend. If you missed it, you can go and check out the Day One projects HERE and the Day Two projects HERE. These hops are always so much fun and I don't want the Disney love to end . . . do let's keep it going!

Today I want to share a birthday card that I made for my Blogger Buddy and co-host of all of the Disney Pixar Blog Hops, Melissa!

I used cuts of Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse, along with a stamp from the K Andrew Designs stamp set Crafty Friends, which is PERFECT for Melissa and I . . . we are crafty and blogging friends!

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Here is a look at the stamp set I used for this card . . .

There are so many great mix and match phrases you can create! And the set is on sale right now for $16.99! You can click HERE to purchase it for your projects.

Still want MORE Disney fun? Then you should head over to Crazy About Cricut where is it Mickey and Friends Monday . . . featuring another Disney card I created!

Disney Pixar Blog Hop November - Day Two

2011-11-20T06:00:00.034-06:00

Welcome to the Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

We are so glad that you could join us for the second day of this hop! If you did not see the full line up from yesterday, don't worry, you can still go and check out all of the projects by clicking HERE. Remember, if you want to be the FIRST to know about upcoming hops, be sure to join Shawn and Melissa's Blog Hop Facebook Page.

Today I will be showing you a card that I made. I have been having a lot of fun with one particular stamp set called Positive Thoughts by K Andrew Designs. When I got this stamp set I started to get all kinds of ideas for Disney Themed projects. Here is a preview of the stamp set . . . can you think of any Disney Themed projects you could make with these stamps?

Well here is what I came up with for today.

I thought the phrase "You are the weaver of your own dreams" fit really well with Sleepy!

If you want to see other cards created with this stamp set . . . some of them Disney Themed . . . click HERE.

Now for the prizes!

I would like to offer you a chance to win a prize of a $25 Gift Certificate to Custom Crops!

Those of you that know me know that my family created the website MyCutSearch.com and that I like to have everyone play a game with MyCutSearch.com in order to enter to win prizes. Since this card is featuring Sleepy, let's go to MyCutSearch and search the word

sleepy

I bet you will be surprised with how many Cricut handbook pages come up with THIS search . . . I know I was!

Then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com telling me how many Cricut handbook pages came up in the search for the word sleepy.

WAIT . . . IT GETS BETTER!!!!!

We have a GRAND PRIZE for this Blog Hop donated by ContainYa Crafts! You can have YOUR CHOICE of a Scrap'n Tote or a Scrap'n Easel! Each blog in this two day hop has a special letter, and when all of the letters are put together they spell out a secret phrase.

My letter is . . . . a

Once you have stopped at each blog in the hop and collected all of the letters, simply email the phrase they create to bloghopcontests at gmail dot com.
If you are collecting the letters for the Grand Prize and there are any blogs along the way that are not working just make sure to leave a blank spot where their letter should be . . . I am sure you will be able to fill in the blank later on.
All entries must be in by Midnight on Monday, November 21st. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 22nd at http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/

Good luck and thanks for playing!

Now it is time to send you off to
Melissa's Blog

http://disneydreamerdesigns.blogspot.com

..........................

Here is the full Hop List in case you get lost along the way

Shawn http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/
Melissa http://disneydreamerdesigns.blogspot.com
Megan http://www.aboverubiesstudio.com/
Kim http://uscrap2.blogspot.com/
Bobbi Jo http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com
Jenny http://jennyplace26.blogspot.com/
Jessica http://thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.com/
Jenny http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com
Susan http://www.cricutforbeginners.com
Tami http://scrappinrabbitdesigns.blogspot.com/
Kathy http://kathyand3kids.blogspot.com/

Disney Pixar Blog Hop November - Day One

2011-11-19T06:00:00.031-06:00

Welcome to the Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

We are so glad that you could join us again for another hop! I think this is our fourth one . . . wow! Who would have known when Melissa and I put our heads together to plan the first one that it would turn into such a following. Remember, if you want to be the FIRST to know about upcoming hops, be sure to join Shawn and Melissa's Blog Hop Facebook Page.

I cannot believe that it has been over one year since my family's last trip to Walt Disney World. One phrase that I saw time and time again was "4 Parks, One World" and I thought that would be a GREAT way to start off a Disney scrapbook . . . sort of a little touch of ALL of the 4 parks in one layout.

Here are some closeer shots of each of the two pages.

Let me break down this layout and how I honored each of the four parks. First, I started with the Mouse that started it all . . . Mickey! I of course paired him up with the iconic castle at the Magic Kingdom. Doesn't Mickey look so proud of what he started.

Below that I placed a photo of Spaceship Earth, and to reprecent the many cultures and countries of Epocot I used a cut of Mulan, and in the "swirl" to her left I placed Mickey Mouse icons made to look like the flags of the many countries represented in the World Showcase

For Animal Kingdom I used a photo of The Tree of Life, with a cut of Flick next to it. To the right of Flick is a swirl with Mickey Mouse icons cut from various animal print papers.

You can also see the embossed paper I used really well in this picture. Here is a close up of what that looked like before I placed the characters on the page.

This was created with an embossing folder that I made myself. For more information on that project you can go back to this post.

Last but not least, MGM Studios and Donald Duck looking a little upset that the Mouse gets all of the attention.

Now for the prizes!

I would like to offer you a chance to win a prize of a $25 Gift Certificate to Custom Crops!

Those of you that know me know that my family created the website MyCutSearch.com and that I like to have everyone play a game with MyCutSearch.com in order to enter to win prizes. Since Donald Duck is my daughter's favorite Disney character, let's go to MyCutSearch and search the words

Donald Duck

and then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com telling me how many Cricut handbook pages came up in the search for the words Donald Duck.

WAIT . . . IT GETS BETTER!!!!!

My letter is . . . . H

Good luck and thanks for playing!

Be sure to stop back tomorrow to see a new Disney project and a whole new line up of bloggers!

Now it is time to send you off to
Melissa's Blog

http://disneydreamerdesigns.blogspot.com

..........................

Here is the full Hop List in case you get lost along the way

Shawn http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/
Melissa http://disneydreamerdesigns.blogspot.com/
Tami http://tamiscraftconnection.blogspot.com
Ellen http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com
Madison http://funkycards.blogspot.com/
Cathie http://www.creativecutter.org/
Cindy http://www.snoflaks.blogspot.com/
(if Cindy's post is not up, hop on to Lori. If you are collecting the letters for the Grand Prize make sure to leave a blank spot where Cindy's letter should be . . . I am sure you will be able to fill in the blank later on.)
Lori http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
Amy Chomas http://amychomas.blogspot.com
Kathy http://kathyscozies.blogspot.com/
Amy Voltz http://www.lovetocrop.com/

Getting Cricky Blog Hop - Holiday Wishes

2011-11-18T19:57:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the "Holiday Wishes" Getting Cricky Blog Hop!!

We're so happy you could join us for this month's Getting Cricky Design Team Blog Hop!! In addition to Kristal and the Senior Design Team, we look forward to introducing you to TEN member of our NEW Junior Design Team (be sure to visit Kristal's Blog to see ALL of our "new additions"!!)... Each of us, along with our Special Guest - Ellen from "a little bit of this...", are so pleased to have you here with us!! Throughout the hop, you'll see NEW ideas for creating cards and projects with Kristal's stamps sets!!

If you've hopped along from Ellen's site, then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard, or reading this via email, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog (you'll want to catch up on all the FUN!!)...

Each of Kristal's stamp sets benefit charity. At least $1 per stamp set goes to benefit the charity noted on the stamp set package. Kristal is donating to the following charities: Cancer Angels, Storefront Shelter for Homeless Children, Intrepid & Fallen Heroes, E. Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Doorways Shelter for Women & Children (Domestic Violence), Wayside House for Women, Camp Good Days & Special Times, Adopt a Classroom, and Autism Research Institute. Kristal will donate $1 for every stamp set sold, retail or wholesale to the charity noted; and over time believes this will add up to some wonderful miracles for these special people. So you can feel good that each time you purchase a K Andrew Designs art stamp set, someone around the country is receiving some good help!

K Andrew's stamps are all made and assembled here in the USA, which is very important to Kristal. This ensures all product materials are safe and that jobs are being provided and maintained here in America. You can learn even more about Kristal's stamps (and pick some up for yourself) by visiting her online store: K Andrew Designs:

Kristal's stamp sets are perfect for cards, layouts, and so much more...

For my project, I'm featuring the Winter Wishes setFor today's project I used the Winter Wishes Stamp Set.

I made a few gift tags, and with each one I was able to create a new phrase by combining different words from the Winter Wishes Stamp Set.

I love that I can mix and match the words from this set to make MY OWN phrases!

Before you go I would like to offer you a chance to win a prize! This week you can have your choice one of the following products . . . either the Cricut for Beginners DVD or a black and white polka dot ScrapBand. To enter to win, leave a comment below telling me one phrase YOU would make by combining two or more stamps from the Winter Wishes Stamp Set.

and then send me an email by clicking here or by using the Contact Us Page at MyCutSearch.com so that I have your contact information. PLEASE DO NOT leave your contact information in your comment . . . that is not a safe practice. (your email simply needs to say Blog Hop Entry . . . it is just so I have a way to contact you)

Good luck and thanks for playing! The winner will be announced here on Tuesday, November 22nd. Stop back tomorrow when I am hosting a Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

Now you can hop on over to your next stop:

Lisa at

http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/

......

........................................

Busy weekend

2011-11-18T06:32:00.000-06:00

It is going to be a busy Blog Hopping weekend, and it all starts tonight with the Getting Cricky Blog Hop, and then Saturday and Sunday will be the Disney Pixar Blog Hop! I cannot wait to get started!

Look what my husband made for me!!!!

2011-11-17T06:17:00.011-06:00

OMG! I am so happy! I have been wanting some of those stackable craft paper storage cubes for SO LONG, and when I showed one to my hubby he said "I could make that." Well, he did . . . ONLY BETTER!

I now have a scrapbook paper TOWER! Each slot is gives me about 2" of space, and I am so excited that I can now re-organize my paper. The storage system I had before was great when I had a smaller paper stash, but as the stacks got bigger some of the paper would get damaged when it would hit the "lip" of the trays in the OLD storage system . . . but not anymore! Open slots and enough of them that I can divide things up into more than I used to. Currently I sort by color, but now I can sub-divide that by solid and patterned. And I purchased some clear plastic storage folder by Recollections, and I plan to use these for the smaller "scrap" size pieces, that way I can still keep the red scraps with the red full sheet papers, but they will not get all mixed up, damaged or lost.

My own ribbon box

2011-11-16T06:10:00.000-06:00

I used to store my Cricut cartridges in photo boxes, until I got my Scrap N Tote. So since I transferred things over the photo boxes have just been sitting around empty, so I decided to convert one into a ribbon box.

One thing I like about my ribbon box is that I can put a LOT more ribbon in it than you can in some of the ribbon boxes you see at the store. I saw one today that only had six holes for the ribbon to come out . . . do you know how many boxes I would need if I could only fit 6 per box!?!?!?!

The other think I like about my box is that there is space in the back, behind the ribbon, for larger spools of tulle or trims that you don't really want coming out of the box, but are nice to keep with the ribbons.

I just cut a slot all the way down one side of the photo box and then used some tape to "finish" off the edges so you did not see the rough cut.

It's all in your point of view

2011-11-15T06:10:00.022-06:00

Here is a "proud Mom" moment from me . . . my daughter has really gotten into photography over the past few years. The summer child care facility that she attends does a photography class every year since the Director of the facility is part of Wigstadt Photography.

One thing that she really encourages the kids to do is to look at things from different angles when taking pictures . . . play with the shadow that is created, frame or crop your picture in a unique way, stand on something to get a downward picture . . . really fun and creative stuff.

Here is a perfect example from our trip last year to Salt Lake City. The first picture is how "most" people would take a picture of the landscape . . . .

And here is my daughter's picture of the same landscape . . .

She got down and was laying on her stomach so that she could take the picture through an opening she saw in the rock wall. The opening in the rock wall really frames the landscape, and you even see shadows on the ground. Much more interesting than my picture with all of the blue sky filling up most of the image.

The only difference . . . the point of view.

My kind of turkey!

2011-11-14T06:17:00.000-06:00

This is MY kind of turkey . . . chocolate, cute and fun to make!

These are a great little treat that you can make with your kids, and give one to everyone at your Thanksgiving celebration.

You will need:
Fudge striped cookies
Chocolate covered Marshmallow cookie treats
(you can substitute a chocolate covered cherry)
Candy Corn
Chocolate Frosting

Using your chocolate frosting as the “glue” attach one fudge stripe cookie to the flat side of the chocolate covered marshmallow cookie treat, so that you can see about half of the stripe cookie behind the chocolate covered marshmallow treat cookie. The marshmallow treat cookie will be the body of the Turkey, and the stripe cookie will be the feathered tail. Allow the frosting to firm up and harden so that the stripe cookie does not slide off in the next step. Attach the “body” to another fudge stripe cookie that will be the base or feet of the Turkey. Then add a piece of candy corn for the head. If you want to add eyes, I would do that with two little dabs of frosting before you attach the head to the body. Using a toothpick to just “dab” some frosting eyes works well so that you can control the frosting on those pieces of candy corn.

This one is wrapped in cellophane to be given as a gift, but you could even use them as place markers for your Thanksgiving meal by adding a name tag to the ribbon.

Have you checked out the new Design Team?

2011-11-13T06:13:00.000-06:00

The new Design Team was announced for Getting Cricky

Want to meet the Design Team?

Kristal - Getting Cricky

Janis - Pause Dream Enjoy

Amy - Love To Crop

Deb - Scrappin Mama

Faith - Faithfule Creations

Ildi - The Craftin Mama

Kathy - The 3 E's Blog

Lisa - A Mermaid's Crafts

Shawn - Crafty Chics

Amanda - Crick'tn Crafts

Anita - Anita's Craft Corner

Charlotte - A Little Bit of Detail

Cheri - DJ's Sundries

Christel - Scrappin Sista

Debbie - DD's Crafts
Heather - Heather's Crafty Blog Space

Jana - Raining Grace

Jessie - Sugarlips Sassy Surprises
JoAnn - Jo Boogie Stamping

Kristan - Baby Cakes

Larelyn - Handmade From My Heart

Laura - Lady B Crafts
Letillia - Diva of 5

Linda - Linda's Creativity

Miranda - Nana's Scrap Spot

Patti - Patti-Lynn Creations

RhoLynda - Blossoming Butterfly Creations

Sherry - Up or Down They're Beautiful

You can purchase K ANDREW DESIGN STAMPS by Clicking HERE.

Kristal is an amazing artist and has some of the best stamps out there! I love that some of her sets are Mix 'n' Match! It makes the possibilities endless!

Need some project inspiration?

Kristal has a Public Photo Gallery in Picasa where you can see what the Design Team Members have created using K Andrew Design Stamps!!!

Check it out by CLICKING HERE!

Great news!

2011-11-12T06:03:00.012-06:00

I was given some great news by my blogger buddy Cathie Rigby from http://www.creativecutter.org/

From Cathie ~
My blog followers voted your site as one of their favorites in a recent survey I conducted to see which sites I should include in my Cricut Book section called Creative Cutting Resources. I am pleased to let you know that my book for Provo Craft is now available for pre-sale at Amazon. I hope you will enjoy many more new followers as my readers discover the wonderfully talented ladies that were nominated for this list.

This is so wonderful! I am so happy that so many people love our site MyCutSearch.com! It is wonderful to know that we will be included in this amazing Cricut Book so that even more people can find us and use our site to make their crafting easier! If you are interested in purchasing this book you can do so by clicking HERE.

Thank you!!!!

It's almost here . . .

2011-11-11T06:54:00.002-06:00

I cannot believe that it is almost time for our NEXT Disney Pixar Blog Hop! If you are on Facebook and would like to get a reminder, you can RSVP to the event HERE.

And there will be a GRAND PRIZE for this hop donated by ContainYa Crafts! You can have YOUR CHOICE of a Scrap'n Tote or a Scrap'n Easel! How do you enter to win? Each blog in this two day hop has a special letter posted on it, and when all of the letters are put together they spell out a secret phrase.

So each stop on the hop will have something that says

My letter is . . . .
Once you have stopped at each blog in the hop and collected all of the letters, simply email the phrase they create to bloghopcontests at gmail dot com. If there is someone that forgets to post thier letter, or their blog is down for some reason this game will turn into an online version of Hangman or Wheel of Fourtune where you have SOME of the letters and know you are trying to spell a phrase. I am hoping that everything works out like I have it planned. :)

All entries must be in by Midnight on Monday, November 21st. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 22nd at http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/

Can't wait to see you there!

Making Money with Crafts ~ Affiliate Programs and Testtimonials

2011-11-10T06:26:00.009-06:00

On the very first day that I was announced as the ARS Success Coach not only did a get a warm welcome, but I also received my first question from another affiliate on how they could create an ad like I did. This is what I told her . . . it is SO EASY to do!

As crafters we all love to share information with each other, and really that is all an advertisement is! If you own any of the products from Above Rubies Studio go ahead and write something up on your blog and tell others why you love it. For an example of this, you can look at the post that I did on my personal blog for an example.

After you have read that post, continue on below . . .
Did you notice in that post how I told people what I liked about the DVD by showing them the questions that it answered? This leaves the person reading the advertisement wanting to know more and interested in purchasing the product for themselves. Had I just answered those questions for them they would not need to purchase the DVD to get the answers! Also, all of the links in the advertisement go directly to my ARS Affiliate Store instead of directing them to the main site. This way I know that I will get the commission for the sales generated off of this advertisement. After that I simply went out on my normal social networking groups and shared the links with some of the crafting and card making groups I am in.

“But Shawn, I don’t own any of the ARS products to write a testimonial about.”

I have an answer for that too . . . use my testimonial! All you need to do is copy and paste the post that I have written at my blog and then go back and CHANGE THE LINKS to go to YOUR affiliate site. I would also suggest adding an introduction at the beginning of the blog post such as . . .

Here is some great news from the Above Rubies Affiliate Program Success Coach, Shawn Mosch!

Then insert the post that I created and most importantly remember to change the links to go to your ARS Affiliate Site so that you will get the commission for any sales. The next step is sharing the link to the post with some people, and this is very easy to do if you are in any Facebook groups that would be interested in the product.

Looking for products and supplies

2011-11-09T06:53:00.021-06:00

If you are looking for some scrapbooking products and supplies, be sure to check out Amazon. There are so many times that I find things that are sold out other places there, or sometimes products I just never knew about before.

And when you ARE shopping Amazon if you go there through THIS LINK

http://astore.amazon.com/mycutsearchco-20

you will be giving back to this blog and MyCutSearch.com because percentage of every sale then goes directly to us! It is a nice little way to thank us for the work we do every day . . . you don't have to go and buy anything special . . . just purchase the things you would normally purchase from Amazon, but just do so through our link

Can you tell me how to get . . .

2011-11-08T06:17:00.021-06:00

. . . how to get to Sesame Street!

Here is a layout that I did of an evening that we were babysitting my niece. We had some Sesame Street dolls from when my daughter was younger that we pulled out for my niece to play with. She really liked to chew on Grover's nose!

Since I do not own a Sesame Street Cricut cartridge, I decided to try to create my own character faces using shapes from the George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge.

The main rounded squares are cut at 1 1/2", most of the eyes were circles cut at 1/2" for the white and 1/4" for the black part. The rest of the faces are made up of hearts trimmed down to just use the tops for many of the tongues, circles cut in half for most of the mouths, ovals for some noses and a few crescent moons for some eyelids.

Ernie and Bert

Grover and Oscar

Cookie Monster and Big Bird

Zoe and Elmo

Sometimes just the position of the eyes made the character "come to life". This is a fun way to create some of the characters even if you don't own the Cricut cartridges that they are found on.

I almost forgot!

2011-11-07T20:31:00.000-06:00

I almost forgot to announce the winner from the Getting Cricky Blog Hop we had this past Friday. The winner is

Cathy Plese

Congratulations Cathy! I will get your prize in the mail to you this weekend!

There is a first for everything . . .

2011-11-07T06:17:00.001-06:00

I have NEVER done this before, but after years of scrapbooking I guess there is a first for everything. I had a kit that I was given as a gift a LONG time ago, and it had decorative papers, stickers and a few sheets that are those easy "insert photo here" sheets.

I was working with three photos that were all being tied together with a cooking theme. Two are of my daughter after her school had a presentation about careers in cooking, and one is of my son after he prepared dinner for us as an assignment for a class in high school. When I noticed that I had a "pre-made" sheet that was in the same general layout as I wanted to go with for these pictures I thought "What the heck . . . let's use the easy page."

I added the sticker letters to say "Let's Cook" and the fork and knife stickers and called it a day. Is it my best scrapbook page ever? No . . . but it works.

Getting Cricky Simply Sunday - Tea Time

2011-11-06T06:06:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Simply Sunday with the Getting Cricky Design Team!

Today is the day that the Getting Cricky Design Team gets to show off some of the projects they have created with the wonderful stamps from K Andrew Designs. Our theme for this week is Tea Time.

At first I was having a REALLY hard time with this theme, since I do not own the Coffee and Tea Stamp set . . . I was just not seeing some of the phrases from the sets I DO OWN fitting into the theme . . . then it hit me! I know so many people that are coffee and tea drinkers, and with the holidays coming I always need a few cute gift card holders to put the coffee shop gift cards into. I used my Sweethearts Cricut cartridge which has a slider envelope on it.

I cut the envelope at 3 1/2" out of some paper with a green houndstooth pattern on it . . . this way they could even be used for some upcoming birthday gifts and not just holiday gifts.

For the decorations on the envelopes I dove into my scrap pile.

TIP: I had embossed some paper and THEN tried to cut it into the thin strips and it did not cut as smooth with my paper cutter, so then I cut the thin strips FIRST and THEN embossed them . . . MUCH BETTER!

I have never used the quotation bubble cuts on my George and Basic Shapes cartridge before this project, but I think they work nice for this project.

The final touch on both of these gift card holders were the phrases. Bottoms Up is from the Pirate Tales and Fish Scales Stamp Set. For the other gift card holder I combined words from the mix and match set Winter Wishes. The mix and match sets are really fun because you are not limited to JUST the phrases that the designer came up with . . . with theses sets the only limitation is your imagination!

Make sure to stop by Getting Cricky to see what the rest of the Design Team has created, and you can even enter your OWN project into the challenge. I hope that this project showed you how to think outside the box so that you can use your stamps for more than just the "theme" they were created for.

I am honored

2011-11-05T06:07:00.014-05:00

It was announced this week that I have been working with Sean and Megan of Above Rubies Studio and will be the ARS Affiliate Program Success Coach.

I see myself in this position as being your guide, mentor, cheerleader and friend all rolled into one. I have already had great success with the ARS Affiliate Program, and I want to show you how to succeed with it also.

Don’t worry . . . you can go at your own pace and do only as much (or as little) as you would like... it is all up to you!

My #1 goal is to help you succeed as an ARS Affiliate! I plan to do that by combining the lessons I have learned over the years through my experience in related fields and create an easy to use and effective systems for you.

This includes

training information
how to videos/scripts/manuals
marketing tips for both online and offline marketing
answering questions
sharing information about new products and promotions
how to plan for new products
... and more.

Speaking of new products, I just got a "sneak peek" of some new products that Megan has in the works... Trust me, you are going to love these! With the holidays just around the corner this is going to be a great time to be a part of the ARS Affiliate Program Team!

With all of the ARS products we will look at ways to promote them

offline to friends and family
with social media like Facebook and Twitter
your blog or website
crafting groups and message boards

I hope that you are as excited about this amazing program as I am. I cannot wait to get you started!

Remember, I am here to help you so don't be afraid to ask questions . . . if you have a question then chances are someone else is wondering the same thing, and this will allow me to share the information to all of the Affiliate Team Members at once. I will share this information on my blog and on the ARS Affiliate site, which you can find HERE

Thanks!
Shawn Mosch
ARS Affiliate Success Coach