My New Toy

I have wanted a Cricut Cutter for quite some time.

Every time I walk into Michaels or A.C. Moore, I pass by the scrapbooking section, salivating over the personal cutter...then reeling back in horror at the tremendous pricetag.

I scour ads for coupons, only to realize in disappointment that they cannot be used on Cricut or Cricut products. blast.

Then last week, around the 4th of July, I walked into Michales with a sole purpose. To buy some Ribbon. what started out as a harmless 20$ adventure(MAX) turned into something 10 times as much.

As the glass doors of the craft retailer parted, there it was. Stacked in a beautiful pyramid, a light bathing it in a halo of wonder. A sign announced that the Cricut was on sale. And not just any sale 50% OFF!!! AND it came with a full font and basic shapes cartridge. PLUS all their other cartridges were 50% off!! Having just received a comission check AND a paycheck I felt obligated to stimulate the economy a little bit. And, as I told my husband, It was 50% off!! It was only 99 dollars!! Thats Less than 100!! I can do Christmas Cards!! I can scrapbook!! I can make cards!! Think of how much money we will save!! (trust me, I sold the heck out of this one)

All he said was " Thats fine, but thats your birthday present" (which is in 2 weeks, just an FYI)

Here is my New Cricut personal cutter:

I spent all day figuring out all the buttons and doo dads and rules and instructions. So after playing around, here are some cards I ended up with. I really love the cherry blossom cards(obviously. I made like 10 of them)

By the way...I completely walked out of Michaels without any ribbon.

Mini Amy Butler cards

Yesterday I was a busy Girl!! Not only did I get laundry done I also went through my beloved stash of Amy Butler paper.

I made little mini cards!!

Set of 10, each one is different. They are so cute!!I listed them in my shop here. The entire set of 10 is $5.

Each mini card is blank white cardstock, folded over and blank on the inside. The final size of the card is 2 3/4 x 3 and each one features a different sample of her Lotus teabox collection

Now I just need to finalize my 3x3 envelope template to make little matching envelopes to fit them in.(Once thats done, I PROMISE to share!!)

Photo greeting Cards

I went to the photo/camera shop yesterday. I took my digital camera card and an idea.

I chose 4 of my favorite pictures to print out, 4x6 glossy photos.

They turned out so crisp and clear and perfectly. The Photog. shop did a great job(a little pricer than your average drugstore, but well worth the extra money) TIP: go to your local camera/photography shop and print your pictures there. They usually can give you ideas and tips on improving your photos and help you edit where necessary. The drugstore will not. All they are interested in is you doing all the work at the "print them yourself" kiosk and paying the money.

I brought them home, and mounted them with archival quality adhesive onto white cardstock and turned them into Blank greeting cards.(you can see one listed here)

Beautiful photos on the outside, blank on the inside. You can customize them for any occasion and for any person.

Each card is titled and signed.

You can send them as cards, or frame them as is, in a 5x7 frame. They come in an envelope should you decide to give them away.

Obviously I like outdoors and nature. Flowers and blossoms are my favorite subject to photograph.

Many etsy photographers sell their photograph greeting cards.

a wonderful way to collect art and photography without breaking the bank.

These are kind like the jumbo version of artists ACEO's.

Photography cards range from $3.00 up to about $8.00.

Want to make your own photo art card?

Take your favorite picture, have it printed out into a 4x6. Mount it onto a folded greeting card measuring 5x7. Title and date. It is as simple as that. If you want to make them a little artsier, play around with color and filters on photoshop. Add shapes and texture. There are many ways to spice up your photography to show off to the world.

You can make them as big or as little as you want. I chose the 5x7 so my pictures would be a little larger and wouldnt lose some of the detail.

If you have a really high quality printer you can buy your own photo paper and print off your own photos in whatever size you so desire.

Just make sure you use the proper adhesive. I suggest going to a scrapbooking store and asking for adhesive that is safe for photos. I use the Tombo mono adhesive tape runner. Any craft store with a scrapbooking section should carry it.

OR as a really cute idea you can take a photograph of your child. Print off however many you want, and go to the photography department of your local drugstore or even camera shop. Ask if they carry the adhesive postcards, specifically for photos. Many of them do. They are 30 cents each(ballpark). You can attach your childs photo to these postcards and send them out as postcards or announcements or invitations. We did that when Peter turned 1. Dont want to buy the generic postcards from your vacation?? Take memorable photos and use THOSE as postcards instead.

Check out some of the really talented etsy sellers and photograph greeting cards. Or make your own. It is a fun rewarding hobby!