August 2019 Recap

I love working on simple layouts with clean lines to them and had fun creating this layout during my most recent Scrapbook with me. Even better was being able to use up a lot of scraps I had in my stash while doing this. This layout is a continuation of my monthly recap series - for this one I went back in time to August of 2019.

The inspiration for this layout came from this sketch. The sketch came from a scrapbooking challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges. You can see this sketch along with others here.

I used up the last of my stash of the retired Blue Skies paper pack for this sketch. I also added some chevrons I had left from a Cricut background cut. I had cut the background for a layout I did for my 2018 Walt Disney Vacation Album - you can see the layout here. The background cut came from the Cricut Close To My Heart Artbooking Cartridge. I think this is my all time favorite cartridge! You can see this cartridge along with other Close To My Heart cartridges on my affiliate link here.

The title was cut from my Cricut and I backed it with some additional scrap paper from the Blue Skies paper pack. I added some additional chevrons on top of others to give some dimension and added a few white enamel dots as well. The journal block was cut with the Stitched Fancy Brackets Thin Cut set and I raised it up with some 3-D Foam Tape.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow my Facebook Page so you will get notifications when I schedule these events.

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies list:

CC5206 - Blue Skies Paper Pack (still available but is currently low quantity)

Z3686 - Stitched Fancy Brackets Thin Cuts

X6047 - Black Cardstock

Z3314 - Black and White Enamel Dots

June 2020 Monthly Recap

Sharing my finished layout from a recent Scrapbook with me event. I am continuing with my monthly recap layouts with this one. For this I dug into my stash to use up some of the retired Felicity collection from Close To My Heart.

We used the following sketch from AllyScraps for this event. You can find the sketch plus other variations on working with it here. 

The title and stars were cut using Thin Cut sets. The title uses the Classic Alphabet Thin Cuts set and the stars come from a retired set.

If you are interested in joining one of these virtual Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow me on Facebook to get notifications of my upcoming events.

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Gnome Birthday Card

I had a lot of fun creating this card for my husband's birthday! I used Mix-In papers along with the adorable Garden Gnomes stamp set to create this card.

The inspiration for the card came from a recent card sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches. You can see this sketch along with other variations of it here.

The Mix-Ins papers worked well for giving the card a fun look. I am so in love with all the Gnome stamp sets that Close To My Heart has available. I stamped the gnome with Intense Black Exclusive Inks and colored him in with Triblend Markers. I finished him off with some gold on his belt using a metallic marker.

I hope you like the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies List:

X9021 - Mix-Ins Paper Pack

X9022 - Mix-Ins Coordinating Cardstock

Z3781 - Garden Gnome Stamp Set + Thin Cuts

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Ink

Z2476 - Fair Skin Triblend Marker

Z2475 - Brown Grey Triblend Marker

Z2491 - True Blue Triblend Marker

Z2512 - Muted Brown Triblend Marker

Z2356 - Precious Metals Metallic Markers

Z4191 - Silver Glitter Gems

Your Choice Cards and a One-Sheet-Wonder

Have you ever needed a card, found one you liked but it didn't have the right sentiment? I know I run into this often so I decided to help solve this dilemma by creating a card set where you can choose your sentiment when you are ready to send the card.

I created these sets of cards recently during an event I did for National Cardmaking Day. The cards are made using a One-Sheet-Wonder technique I found on Pinterest. The technique uses a piece of 6"x6" paper to make 4 cards. Each card also has a 2" circle where the sentiment goes. I added a piece of double-sided adhesive on the back of the sentiment circle - all that is needed is to select the sentiment needed, peel off the adhesive cover and place it on the card and you are all set.

I created 6 different sets of these cards.

The card sets each come with 4 "Why Thank You", "Thinking of You" and "With Deepest Sympathy" sets of sentiments. The cards were made based off of this One Sheet Wonder Challenge diagram. You can find this diagram along with others here.

I created these using some paper from the retired True Love paper collection. I added some embossed cardstock to each card using the Floral Lace Embossing Folder and a little bling using the Sparkles.

The sentiments were stamped using M-sized stamp sets which fit perfectly in the 2" circles I cut from coordinating cardstock.

These cards along with others can be found in my shop - here.

I hope you like the cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Talk About It Tuesday #1 - Fonts

Starting a new series with today's blog post - Talk About It Tuesday. During my Scrapbook with me events we often chat about tools, techniques and tips. I want to use this series to share my thoughts on the topics we discuss. This week to start things off let's talk about FONTS.

Last week we talked about the fonts I use with my Cricut and I was asked to put together a list of my favorite fonts. I figured I would share the list here with you along with some tips for using these fonts with your Cricut.

To start with I definitely would classify myself as a "font addict". I have, over the years, collected thousands of fonts and have them on my computer. I often find them through free links on different sites. My favorite sites to get free fonts from are: FontBundles and DaFonts. 

FontBundles does a Free Font Friday so if you sign up on their site you will get an email with links to the free fonts each week. DaFonts is great when you are searching for a particular font.

I download fonts from these sites and save a copy to the cloud so if I ever have to reinstall it I have a backup. I am on a Mac so I just need to double-click the font to install it using the FontBook app that comes with the Mac OS.

For those new to collecting and installing fonts you will notice that most fonts come in both a TTF and OTF format. I usually install the OTF version of the font since it will come with some advanced typesetting features but it really does not matter which one you install.

After I install a new font I use a feature I love in FontBook to add the font to collections I have created - Script, Disney, Fun, etc. I also have a Favorites collections for my most-often used fonts. I have two types of fonts I tend to use - scripted fonts and regular. 

Script Fonts

Regular Fonts

You can find a downloadable PDF of these lists of fonts with links to where to get them - here (Script) and here (Regular).

I am always adding new interesting font lists to my Pinterest board so make sure to follow me on Pinterest.

Using Fonts with your Cricut

The fonts I have shared here are from outside of Cricut - they are not part of any Cricut cartridge collection or a font you can purchase through Cricut. To use these in your Cricut you just need to have them installed on your computer. If Cricut Design Space is already running when you install a font, you may need to quit the program and then restart for the font to show up.

My main tips for using any font with your Cricut is:

1.  Use a ruler to measure the space where you want your element to go on your layout then use the arrow on the lower right corner to drag and resize the element to what you want. Using this does a proportional resize so the length and height stay in proportion to each other.

2. You can also resize just one element by clicking on the padlock on the lower left corner to unlock the proportions and stretch the title in either direction using the green cross in the lower right corner.

3. These tips apply to fonts of any type. When working with script fonts you will need to make sure to Weld the element before cutting or you will get odd cuts. Script fonts do not automatically place to letters next to each other so you will need to use the Letter Space option on the toolbar to move the letters closer.

4. Sometimes when you use the Letter Space option as the spacing decreases the letters start to overlap each other too much in some spots and not enough in others to weld properly. To use a script font in this instance you will need to create a text box with each letter separately then move each one together to place just where you want the overlap. Once you have them in place you can select all and then weld them together.

5. Once you have them welded you can adjust the height and width to your needs. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this Talk About It Tuesday topic. Make sure to follow my blog to see upcoming posts.

Patriot's Place

With the COVID pandemic going on I think we are all getting a little stir crazy so Mike, the girls and I decided to head out one day to take a short trip down to Patriot's Place. For those not familiar with it - this is a shopping and eating area right next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. We had fun wandering around the area and I knew I wanted to scrapbook this during my most recent Scrapbook with me event. This is my finished layout from the event.

This layout was a complete Scrap-Your-Stash layout as the cardstock, paper, flowers and buttons were all from my stash of retired products. I used paper from the retired Elemental collection from Close To My Heart for this.

The sketch I used came from the 4x6PhotoBlog.

You can find this sketch along with others here.

The title was cut on my Cricut using the Beradon Script font. During the event we talked a bit about fonts and the Cricut so I will be sharing some of my favorite fonts and some tips on using them in an upcoming post.

I added some flowers and buttons from my stash to complete the layout.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow my Facebook page so you will get notifications of any upcoming events.

I hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

September 2019 Monthly Recap

I am continuing to catch up on my scrapbooking through my Scrapbook with me sessions and working on more monthly recap layouts with my group. This layout is from a recent event and is a recap of September 2019.

The layout features papers from the current Close To My Heart Core catalog - Lovely collection and Wood Grain paper packet. For this I used this sketch from December 2017 from the Page Maps Blog.

You can find this sketch along with others here on the Page Maps blog.

The title was cut on my Cricut. I have been using a similar title format for each month in 2019. The floral embellishments were stamped from the October 2020 Stamp of the Month - With All My Love. I used Intense Black Exclusive Inks and colored in with Triblend Markers. I love being able to use stamps on my scrapbook layouts.

If you are interested in attending one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow my Facebook page so you will get notifications of any upcoming events.

I hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies List:

X8015B - Lovely Paper Pack

X8015C - Lovely Coordinating Cardstock

X8017 - Wood Grain Paper Pack

S2010 - October 2020 Stamp of the Month - With All My Love

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Inks

Z2486 - Dull Green Triblend Marker

Z2496 - Pale Pink Triblend Marker

Z2494 - Hydrangea Triblend Marker

Z4191 - Silver Glitter Gems

Tougas Farms

It's apple picking time here again. Even with the pandemic going on we still got to get in an apple picking trip up to Tougas Farms here in Northborough. I enjoyed creating this layout to document our adventure at one of my recent Scrapbook with me sessions.

For this layout I used the following sketch I found through Pinterest. This sketch came from the Basic Grey blog and can be found here.

I combined some papers I had remaining from the Bloom with Grace collection along with paper from the coordinating Mix-Ins paper pack. I love how the Mix-Ins Close To My Heart offers in each catalog really do "mix in" and expand the use of the paper collections in the catalog.

I created the title and side bracket elements using the Stitched Scallop Bracket Thin Cuts. The title was stamped using the retired Erin's Hand alphabet stamp set. The leaves were cut using the Leaves Thin Cuts.

If you are interested in joining one of my Scrapbook with me sessions make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook page so you get notifications when I am having an event.

I hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:

X7260B - Bloom with Grace Paper Pack

X7260C - Bloom with Grace Coordinating Cardstock

X9019 - Mix-Ins Paper Pack

Z3688 - Stitched Scallop Brackets Thin Cuts

Z3692 - Leaves Thin Cuts