Time Heals

        Even though I posted this a few days ago I thought I'd share this with the folks at Pink Cricut since I was so pleased with how it turned out. Please bear with me since there is a story behind this card (isn't there always,lol):
      I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the New Year. I know I am! Unfortunately some people start off with all the bad luck right in the beginning. What astounds me is the way people accept the circumstances. Either they look at the glass half empty or accept things for the way they are and look at it half full.

     By now you are probably thinking what the heck is she talking about, lol. Before I show you the card I made let me explain the reason behind it. I live in a very small town and, like most small towns, there is the go to coffee hangout. It is owned by a wonderful couple couple who have added a deli and ice cream shop. It is so friendly and everyone cares about each other (for the most part!). Anyways the store was closed New Years day and the owners were preparing to watch the Patriots football game. They were making fondue to nibble on when he took the cover off the pot and it burst into flames catching his shirt on fire. As if that wasn't bad enough he tried to rush the pot out the kitchen door when he dropped the pot of burning peanut oil and it splashed on the floor and the flames raced up his shirt and burnt his face and burnt his arms and chest again! He suffered second and third degree burns.
     Now I bet you are asking yourself what does the glass half full/half empty have to do with this? When I finally saw his wife I was obviously concerned particularly about his eyes. She said the eye appointment went extremely well and that there would be no permanent damage to his eyesight. When I asked about his arms she said it was too early to tell if he would need skin grafts but "you know Mary, we can deal with anything. we thank God it wasn't any worse and are so thankful his eyesight is going to be okay. It will be a long haul 'til he is back at work but that's ok. I have a new appreciation for the work he puts in, now that I have to help fill in his time slot as well. It's been an eye opener for me as well."

     I made this card as soon as I found out about the accident and left it for him before I had a chance to speak with his wife. So, under the circumstances, what can you say in a card? How about Time Heals?

Simply, Get well soon

The outside of the envelope.

      I am using a lot of different supplies lately with my Imagine projects and I am just loving the more sophisticated look I am getting! For example I love adding these metal embellishments particularly with masculine cards. I also love using Tim Holtz folders with my cuttlebug. It all came together so well with the Imagine clock paper from The Heirloom cartridge as well as the solid green paper. The litte tag also was cut with the cuttlebug from the tag dies.Except for the sentiment, this would be a great design for a male birthday card. Thanks for listening to my long winded post. Do you have a tendency to look at that glass half full or half empty?

Thanksgiving Day Cards

     Alright, I'm back in action. I have some new Thanksgiving Day cards to share with you. These are a little different from the ones I usually make. I always search through the clearance bin at Michaels and I found some Tim Holtz seasonal packs. These have some awesome images with such a wonderful vintage look. So I decided to go with it.

     As a member of the Cricut Circle, one of the perks is that you receive exclusive carts. The latest one is called Sophie and that is where I found the die cut of the leaf frame. It was cut @ 4.53 x 3.44" on a beautiful burgundy background. I love how intricate these cuts are. I chose certain sections to highlight with diamond glaze for a glossy  look. I also added a beautiful orange card stock as a backing and trimmed it with a rust picot satin ribbon topped with a velvet trim.

     I also had some glittered leaf embellishments that I added to the corners after I distressed the edges with some ink. Don't ya just love my ceramic turkey? I actually have two of them which are my candle holders for the big feast!

     I just love these images. This is so nice with the turkeys in the background.

     This has to be my favorite image in this group. I love the cornucopia maybe because i make so many of them at work for the holiday!

     I also decided to finish this off with an inside verse that was printed in brown on a parchment paper. I have decided to add some greetings on my cards this time. It adds weight to the card but gives it a nice finishing touch.

     What do you do for family traditions at your house? I'd love to hear if you'd like to share!

Creative Charms Winner!

     What a pleasant surprise to check my email and found I won the super prize from Creative Charms. It includes the gradient gems (you know how I LOVE them) and the vintage sets. That adds up to 21 packages of pure goodness.

     They offer deals every month ( a few of which got me all started using their products, lol). This is the package I won. Here is a project they made using these goodies: http://creative-charms.blogspot.com/2011/08/altered-silver-brooch-box-using-vintage.html While you're there, be sure to check out the other great projects.

     I'll be watching the mail to see these beauties when they come in!

Anna Griffin Kit

     Since today was a rainy day (that's right RAIN not SNOW, lol)  I had every intention of cleaning my craft room but never got past the door. I had just put the box of Anna Griffin "stuff" I had won from the Provo craft/HSN contest just as you walked in the door and there it sat for a month now. This seemed as good a time as any to dive into the goodies.
     Can I just say, wow!! Ok there are card bases, card stock overlays, embellishments, ribbons, tags, insert pages and, yes, even pop dots. I needed plenty of room to spread them all out and had fun mixing and matching all the choices. The kit actually makes 30 cards!

     These are the first ones that I put together. Of course I added my own touches, ribbons, some bing, stickles and even some glossy accents to the holly berries. These cards have a victorian look to them and are giving me more ideas how to use my cricut Imagine. Hope you enjoy this peek. I'm off to assemble some more!!!