Convention Highlights and a New Addition to the VW Series

The annual Close to My Heart Convention is one of the highlights of my year. The most recent one was held in July at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. To gear up, I pulled out my Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge and make a new VW for the series. I LOVE this one. 

Close to My Heart gets so creative with their themes! This year the theme was UP.

One of the BEST parts of convention is getting to see so many friends I only get to see once or twice a year AND getting to hang out with these fabulous roomies of mine.

There is always some good creative stuff. We get to make wonderful stuff with brand new product.

There's always a few characters mixed in too.

And you never know. There might be an award in order if you work hard (I was surprised with one this year). There's always an awards banquet with great food and great entertainment.

And we all need a chance to dress up and sparkle!

Yes, I will be back at convention next year. I can't wait. It will be at Disneyworld in Florida! Anyone want to join me? It's easy to become a consultant and so much fun. Check it out here or contact me.  If you've been a consultant with Close to My Heart before, you can rejoin in August for just $49 (if you didn't get an email from CTMH, contact me as your instructions will be slightly different).

Just looking back at these pictures makes me so happy. And that is why I do this. I do this because it matters that I preserve those memories. It matters that I foster those friendships. It matters that I laugh until I almost wet my pants. And it matters that I help others to do the same. Make memories, people! And then preserve them! I'm happy to help.

Happy Creativity and Crafting!

Christmas VW!

And the VW Bug is back and all dressed up for Christmas! You didn't think I had retired him after the last batch of VW cards, did you?

I started out with Kraft paper which I spritzed with very watered down white paint to give the effect of snow. I stamped the tree from Make it Merry (I think this is my favorite Christmas stamp set this year) and added some twine to tie it to the top of the car. Because it's Christmas, I used some silver glitter paper to bling up my Ruby red VW.

This card makes me happy.

Merry Christmas!

PS Look what I found from my college days! It wasn't a VW Bug but it was a VW Kharmann Ghia. I can't believe my ex boyfriend (at the time), who would end up being my husband two Christmases later (it's a long story), let me borrow his car to go buy a Christmas tree with my roommate. Good times!

One last VW card

Okay, one last VW card and then I will give it a rest (for a while--I really am in love with this cricut cut).

I used the 2" cars again and this time, I did use the shadow background on the Cricut Artfully Sent cartridge.

It's a Herbie the Love Bug race! (Again, please google this if you are too young to know who Herbie the Love Bug is).

Happy Scrapping and Paper Crafting!

A Halloween VW Card

Ahhh, Halloween approaches. Fall is in the air. My Halloween decor is up. Time to create a Halloween card.

It starts out fairly simple, boring almost, but then...

You open it up and there is a VW Halloween party inside!

It's a pop up card! The Cricut Artfully Sent cartridge is fabulous for making pop up cards. I've just been so busy cutting VW bugs that I failed to actually use the pop up feature on the same key (until now). The Frightfully Fun stamps and the Trick or Treat Sweet stamps had the perfect little characters for this card.

Don't you want to go trick or treating with this bunch?

Baby VW's!

More VWs! And this time, teeny tiny baby ones!

Remember this guide? This time I used the 2" VW. I love it's tiny size!!!! It is perfect for a 3x3" card.

I thought these would be so cute for baby cards. And the Artfully Sent cartridge comes with three stamp sets, one of which includes several sentiments, including these I used inside. 

Congratulations is a separate stamp so that it can be used with several different sayings to fit your occasion.

And on we go. But again, stay tuned because I don't think I'm quite done with the VWs!

More VW's!

I promised more VW cards and I am delivering on that promise. I love that Artfully Sent cartridge.

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. He is a VW fan. He has never owned a bug but he has owned a couple of VW buses and a Karmann Ghia. But hey, it's still appropriate. So this card was for him.

Anyone else remember Herbie the Love Bug? If you are too young to remember, you should google it. 

To get the word celebrate, I saved the letters from another cut out on the 7 key.

I am so enabling you to hoard paper scraps. 

I really do think this card is pretty darn cute. My husband's birthday is shared by a little guy named Rhett who asked for 999 cards for his 9th birthday. I made a duplicate to send to him as well. His birthday's over, but I bet he'd still love a card from you. 

Stay tuned because the VW's are not done! There will be more to come. See you soon.

Simply Inspired Blog Hop--Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge

I love participating in this blog hop. I hope you enjoy the inspiration you receive here as well. If you just arrived here from the generous and talented Michelle Snyder's blog you are on the right track. It's one big loop so if you do get mixed up, you can go here to see all the participants and links to their blogs.

We are celebrating the release of the new Close to My Heart Cricut cartridge, Artfully Sent. Jam packed with images, this one is dedicated to card making. Pop ups, scene cards, fancy folds, etc. there are so many options.

When I got my cartridge, I spent some time browsing the book. I always wanted a Volkswagen bug (still do) so I fell in love with the love bug image on the N key.

 I experimented with different sizes. Each key is pre-designed to cut for a 5x7 card. I wanted a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card so I played a bit with the sizing. Here's a little guide--these bugs range from 1/2 inch up to 5 inches, increasing in 1/2 inch increments.  The card I made has a 4" beetle.

This VW is perfect with the Wanderful paper and complements. I love this saying from the World Traveler stamp set. And the black arrow washi--ahhh, I love it when products coordinate so well together. 

There is a shadow image of the VW that you can place behind the cut out but for my purposes I preferred to cut another image from glacier cardstock and put the windshield, etc. in place to make my black bug pop. And I sanded my black image just a tad to give it a vintage beetle look.

I had a lot of fun with this particular key so stay tuned for more VW bugs. But now, on to the lovely Lynn Como's blog. Enjoy!