Flower Fun

I created these little tags to go into the flower pots that we gave to the Grandmother's in our family for Mother's Day this past weekend, but you could use this same idea for ANY gift!  It was quick and easy to do also . . . which I love!

I know . . . they are hard to see . . . so I took close up photos too

To make these I use a flower shape from my Paisley Cricut cartridge.  If you don't own that cartridge you could use any flower or scalloped circle shape to get this same look.  You could even use MyCutSearch.com to find which cartridges have a flower or scalloped circle . . . watch out . . . there are a LOT!

I cut the flower shape at 3" from a yellow patterned paper and inked the edges with a golden yellow ink.  I wanted it to be a soft dusting of color, so I use a Q-tip and dabbed in on the ink and then dabbed some off on a scrap of paper and then just lightly smudged the edges of the flower.  After I was done if there were areas that looked like they needed more ink I could always go back and add more . . . better to go light and add more than to go too heavy and have to start over!

Then I cut a circle from yellow at 2" and blue at 2 1/4" and layered them to be placed in the center of the yellow patterned paper.  I used sentiments from two different stamp sets . . . Positive Thought and Owly Hoo.

Click HERE to order Owly Hoo

Click HERE to order Positive Thoughts

  I have to say I LOVE Positive Thoughts!!!!  I think I use this set the most out of all of the sets I own!  I added some small accents, flowers and hearts cute at 1" and 3/4", just to add something extra to it.

After I had the flower made, I took a pipe cleaner and bent it in half like this

and I taped it to the back of the flower . . . bent part behind the flower and the "legs" sticking down.  It really does kind of look like my flower grew legs.  :)

Then I glued a solid colored circle to the back to hide the ugly tape and pipe cleaner bend, and then I could just stick those "legs" of the pipe cleaner down into the flower pot or twist them around a branch of the plant to secure it.

Seriously, it took me longer to write up this blog post than it took me to make these!  Easy, and they look so cute!

If you like these, or any of the K Andrews Stamp Sets, you can find inspiration for projects using these sets on Pinterest.  

Click HERE for the Owly Hoo Stamp Set Pinterest Board

Click HERE for the Positive Thoughts Stamp Set Pinterest Board

And the winners are . . .

I want to thank everyone that participated in the Disney Pixar Blog Hop this weekend, with a very special thanks to my "Scrappin' Sistah" Ellen for being my co-host.

Now what you are all waiting for . . . the winners of the prizes from this weekend's hop

The two winners of the $25 gift certificates to Custom Crops are 

Silvia Haynes

and

Cheri Parish

And the GRAND PRIZE winner of the ScrapN' Easel-Ette is 

Debbie Bonczek

of 

http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to all of the winners!  

I have sent you emails to get your mailing information in order to get you your prizes.

Remember, there is still more Disney fun going on . . . you can enter YOUR Disney project into this week's challenge at Getting Cricky!

Disney Pixar Blog Hop - Day Two

Welcome to Day Two of the 
Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

If you missed Day One, you can go HERE to find my project and at the bottom of my post is the full list of blogs that participated in Day One.

I always love it when we do these Disney Pixar Blog Hops!  What's not to love . . . great crafters, Disney themed projects and prizes to win along the way!  And at the end of the hop there is even a way that you can enter YOUR OWN Disney Project into a challenge!

Marlo from ContainYa Crafts has donated a GRAND PRIZE of  a Scrap'N Easel-Ette! 

This 11" x 11" folding craft easel is ideal for card making, tags, stamping and other small paper craft projects.  

How do you enter to win the Scrap N Easel-Ette?  Just email me the answer to this question . . .

In what attraction (ride) does Tinker Bell have a central place in all Disney Theme Parks (except Hong Kong)?

Remember . . . DON'T post the answer in your comments . . . email me by clicking HERE

Hint: read the blog posts carefully today . . . you could find the answer in one of today's posts!

Now on to the projects!

For today's project I created a card for one of my daughter's friends.  I used the new Of Mice And Lil Men Stamp Set from K Andrew Designs. These phrases are PERFECT for a Disney fanatic like me!

My daughter asked her friend what their favorite Disney character was, and they said Stitch and Peter Pan.  Luckily I got the Disney Classics Cricut cartridge for a Mother's Day gift last weekend, and that has a couple of Peter Pan cuts on it.  We decided to go with the one where Peter is flying.

I used some paper that had a "shimmer" to it for Peter's clothes.  I used a blue/green/cream striped paper for the background with a soft blue paper matted over that.  The blue paper has soft images of stars on it.  I accented the card by playing off of the stars in the blue paper, and cut stars in several different sizes from coordinating papers.  I used the silhouette feature when cutting out the stars so that I would have not only the stars to work with but the star "frame" cut also.  I think it adds more variety and interest when you can us a variety of sizes, colors and variations of the same cut.

The final touch was the phrase "Reach for the Stars" from the Of Mice and Lil Men Stamp set.

Before I send you off to the next stop on the hop, how about a chance to win a prize!  

***Contests are now closed ***

How about a $25 Gift Certificate to Custom Crops!

So let's play a game with my favorite site!  Since Peter Pan teaches us to believe in our dreams, let's go to MyCutSearch.com and type the word

believe

into the search bar. Then email me the answer to the question how many Cricut cartridges have the word believe on them.  You can email by using the Contact Us button on MyCutSearch.com or by clicking HERE.

(winners will be announced here Tuesday May 22nd)

***Contests are now closed ***

Now it is time for me to send you off to my "Scrapin' Sistah" 

Ellen at 

cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here is the full blog hop line up in case you get lost along the way

Shawn craftychicsblog.blogspot.com

Ellen cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com

Kim uscrap2.blogspot.com

Bobbi Jo sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com

Jenny jennyplace26.blogspot.com

Jessica thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.com

Jenny crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com

Tami scrappinrabbitdesigns.blogspot.com

Kathy kathyand3kids.blogspot.com

Kristal gettingcricky.com

Disney Pixar Blog Hop - Day One

Welcome to Day One of the 
Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

We have a lot of fun in store for you.  Not only will you get to see some wonderful Disney Pixar themed projects, but you also have the chance to win prizes along the way!  And at the end of the day tomorrow there is even a way that you can enter YOUR OWN Disney Project into a challenge!

Marlo from ContainYa Crafts has donated a GRAND PRIZE of  a Scrap'N Easel-Ette! 

This 11" x 11" folding craft easel is ideal for card making, tags, stamping and other small paper craft projects.  How an you win one?  You just have to answer a trivia question that I will post tomorrow.  (yes, you have to come back for Day Two of the hop in order to win the Grand Prize)

So let's get on with the projects!  

I created this scrapbook layout with some of the pictures from our day at Animal Kingdom.

Let me show you how I did this. The large circular die cut, the striped paper and some of the animal prints are from the Bo Bunny Zoology Paper Pack.  (I purchased mine at Archiver's, but it is also on Amazon . . . CLICK HERE)

I knew I wanted to do a collage of pictures in a circular shape inside of the circular die cut, but I was not sure which pictures and how to place them, so I started off with a piece of scrap paper that I cut a circle out of that was smaller than the die cut.  Then I taped that down to my work surface so I could slide different pictures underneath and play around with different arrangements.

I used pictures my daughter and I took of the animal carvings in the Tree Of Life.  My first idea was to just put a plate on top of the pictures and cut around them with an craft knife to make the circle shape, but none of my plates were just the right size . . . okay, now I have to make this work on my Cricut.  

It took some trial and error and a few cuts to get a circle just the right size that I wanted.  I ended up using a circle cut with the silhouette feature on so that it cut a circle and a ring shape.  I could then take that ring shape and check and make sure that my images fit the way I wanted them (see image below)  This was a nice way to just "double check" that everything I wanted to show up was INSIDE the inner part of the ring.

Make sure when you remove the ring shape from the Cricut mat that you leave the scrap paper with the circle cut out of it on your mat.  This will make things line up better for cutting the pictures.

Okay, next step is to transfer the photos on to the Cricut mat, using that scrap piece of paper you left on the mat as you template as to where you place the photos so that they end up inside of the circle.  

Place the "ring" shape back on top and line that up inside the scrap piece and make any adjustments you might need to the spacing and layout of the photos.  (hey, I did not say this was easy, but THANK GOODNESS I left the scrap with the circle cut out of it on the mat otherwise I would not have been able to line things up again!)

Okay, your pictures are on the mat and you know everything you want to see is inside the circle of the ring.  Now remove the ring, load the mat back into your Cricut and cut the same image again.  I used the "Repeat Last" button.  I also set my Cricut to do a Multi-Cut to make sure that it cut all the way through the pictures.

Now I center those down on the Bo Bunny circular die cut.  Since I knew people would ask, I am including a link to this die cut on Amazon.  Click HERE.

For the background paper I used an olive green paper that I crumpled and then used a sanding block on to give it more texture.  My daughter had fun with this once I showed her how to do it.  

The accent striped paper on the second page is also from the Bo Bunny Zoology Paper Pack (Link to Amazon HERE)  It reminded me of the fabric on the cosumes that the cast wear at Animal Kingdom.  Since Animal Kingdom is all about the "critters" I decided that Chip and Dale would be PERFECT for this layout!  

I cut some Mickey Mouse icons out of jungle and animal print papers to accent both pages.

Before I send you off to the next stop on the hop, how about a chance to win a prize!  

***Contests are now closed ***

How about a $25 Gift Certificate to Custom Crops!

For the title on my layout I cut out the letters to spell the phrase "Go Wild", but how could you find out if there are any Cricut cartridges that have that same phrase already created for you on it?  

If you use MyCutSearch.com you could find that fast!

Just go to MyCutSearch.com and type 

go wild

into the search bar and then email me the answer to the question how many Cricut cartridges have the phrase go wild on them.  You can email by using the Contact Us button on MyCutSearch.com or by clicking HERE.

(winners will be announced here Tuesday May 22nd)

***Contests are now closed ***

Now it is time for me to send you off to my "Scrapin' Sistah" 

Ellen at 

cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com

remember to come back tomorrow for the second day of the hop!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here is the full blog hop line up in case you get lost along the way

Shawn craftychicsblog.blogspot.com

Ellen cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com

Tami tamiscraftconnection.blogspot.com

Madison funkycards.blogspot.com

Cathie creativecutterroom.com

Lori scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com  

Amy Chomas amychomas.blogspot.com

Kathy kathyscozies.blogspot.com

Amy Voltz lovetocrop.com

Sarah pinkcricut.com

Getting Cricky Blog Hop - Summertime

Looking for some inspiration?  
Check out the Getting Cricky Blog Hop!

Throughout the hop the Design Team will be showing what we love about....  SUMMERTIME!!  From parties and celebrations to campfires and s'mores,  we hope you'll enjoy each and every project along the way!!  I am not in this hop, but I wanted to make sure all of you knew about it so, let's get hopping...

 CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog (you'll want to catch up on all the FUN!!)

Remember, you can find inspiration for projects using these sets on Pinterest.  

Click HERE for the Owly Hoo Stamp Set Pinterest Board

Click HERE for the Positive Thoughts Stamp Set Pinterest Board

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

We'd also like to share TWO BRAND NEW Stamp Art Sets that are now available for Pre-Order with an expected ship date of May 25th!! If you want to be one of the FIRST to own these SUPER-CUTE sets, you'll definitely want to order TODAY (clicking on the previews will take you directly to the order page!!)...



Guy Talk








Southern Sayings

And it gets even better!
The PROMO CODE for tonight's hop is 
"newship" (all lower case)
This code gets you FREE SHIPPING 
on your purchases during the hop!

Make sure to come back tomorrow when I will be hosting a 

Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

Now head over the Kristal's blog!

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

Who likes previews?

When you go to the movies, are you the type that has to be in their seat and ready far enough before the movie starts that you don't miss any of the previews?  I am.  I love to know what is coming next.  Well, here is a little preview of the Disney Pixar Blog Hop coming up this weekend.  This video is from my Scrapin Sistah Ellen at http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com/




That was WONDERFUL Ellen!  As always, I LOVE your projects!

Hope to see you back here this weekend for MORE Disney Pixar themed projects!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all of my crafty friends.  My family gave me my Mother's Day gift today . . . the Disney Classics Cricut cartridge!  I spent the afternoon creating my first project with it, which I will be showing off NEXT weekend in our Disney Pixar Blog Hop.

See you then!

Birthday Card

I want to share a quick and cute birthday card for my sister-in-law with all of you.

I had some of these bright fun colored flowers already punched out and left over from a different project, and I knew I wanted to use them on this card.

I found a paper that had several different colors of dots on it, and some of them matched perfectly with the flowers I had!  Love it when things just work out like this!  I backed the whole layout in a bright yellow paper, and before I adhered the yellow to the paper I cut a circle out of the center to use for the sentiment.  I tend to do this a lot . . . cut or punch a shape out of the center of the backing paper . . . once you put the dot paper on top you don't see all of the images I cut out of the background piece!

The final touch was the stamped sentiment "Today is your day!" which is from the K Andrews Positive Thoughts stamp set.  If you are on Pinterest and you are a fan of this set you should follow the Positive Thoughts board!  It is filled with great project ideas and inspiration . . . all featuring this stamp set!

Featured Bloggers and Designers

Megan at Above Rubies Studio has a "Featured Blogger and Crafters" page, and she has added my Crafty Chics Blog to the list!  You can go and vote for me by going to her site . . . here is a direct link.

Making money with your crafting blog

For more tips on Affiliate Marketing click HERE.  
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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.

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.