Cricut Imagine is here!

Word on the web is that the newest member of the Cricut family will be the Cricut Imagine. It will cut and print your diecuts. I was trying to find a picture of it for here but I can't get one to copy. This was annouced to Cricut Circle members. (i didn't join) but I know where to look on the internet to find what I need. :) The machine will debut on HSN on September 14 (six days before my bday) and because I am a sucker for new gadgets I am excited about it. Most ladies from what I have been reading are not impressed but I think its pretty neat. They really hyped it up during our Chicago training (but then they also hyped up the Red Beast... I mean Cricut Cake). Hopefully I will be demoing the Cricut Imagine and can film a video on it for the blog. go to http://www.pinkcricut.com/ for the official announcement letter and picture.

Shopping Shopping Shopping

One of my dear friends Karen told me that I needed to do a blogpost about where I like to shop online. I'm a sucker for a deal and NEVER EVER pay full price for anything. First let's talk cartridges: There are two cartridges that I have paid full price for or at least close to full price for: 1. Stretch Your Imagination; 2. Wild Card. This was BEFORE I learned about the magical world of ebay and online shopping. When I think back on how much I paid for those cartridges it makes me sad. With a little research (and paitence) you can find amazing deals on cartridges. A go-to place for new cartridges and usually the cheapest place to find new release cartridges is Memory Miser (http://www.memorymiser.com/) They have great deals. I think I will head over and pick up Winter Frolic when I'm done with this post. Another place that has cheap cartridges BUT you have to have incredible patience to wait for them to ship is (http://www.ohmycrafts.com/) Again amazing prices but you will be the last person to receive your cartridge! (when you ask they say that Provo Craft has not given them "permission" to release the cartridge yet) I find this hard to believe that Provo Craft purposely holds off on letting them release cartridges but whatev. Another place to find cartridges at incredibly cheap prices: Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/) I have gotten all of my Disney cartridges for all under $20.00 and free shipping! Now I'm not saying that I am going to cut every single character from these cartridges but most have super cute extras that work for cards and scrapbook pages and SOMEDAY I will make it back to Disney World and I will have an amazing scrapbook!! I digress....
Every morning when I get to work I sit down, eat my breakfast yogurt and check my Scrapbooking Daily Deals websites. You have to check these first thing in the morning to get the great deals because once the item is sold out you can't get it anymore. A couple of the websites will have deals throughout the day so when they sell out they pop up with a new deal. So every morning get up and have some coffee/breakfast/energy drink and go to these websites:

http://www.craftysteals.com/
http://www.cropchocolate.com/
these two websites have deals throughout the day so refresh often
http://www.flowerstoflourishes.com/ (this is possibly my favorite)
http://www.scrapbooksteals.com/
http://www.peachycheap.com/

I have gotten so many great deals on these websites so definetly check them out. I'll leave you with another couple of websites that I enjoy looking at because they have tons of product. (I rarely buy from these sites unless it is something exclusive to that website. but great shopping on these websites:
http://www.customcrops.com/
http://www.hallmarkscrapbooks.com/
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/
(be sure to check out 2 peas message boards because you can learn so much!)

Happy Crafting!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hello everyone! Good Morning! I know I have been away for a while I had a big week last week and did not do much crafting. Two Lady Gaga shows in a week was a plateful. :) But both shows were amazing and the show is a must see. I love that she uses her platform as a superstar to spread the word of God and of his love. EPIC! Today is one of my friend's birthday so I made her a set of monogram cards. I thought they turned out adorable. It is my "go to gift". This is the box I made out of a 12x12 piece of cardstock. The tutorial said it would only hold eight cards and envelopes but my set contained 10 and everything fit perfectly. There used to be a blog called Sheetload of Cards and once a month it would give you a diagram on how to cut one sheet of patterned paper to get 12 cards. I'm sad it is no longer available but if you are interested let me know and I will email you the diagram that I have. It also tells you how to cut your cardstock etc. Its great. Here is an example of one of the cards. And of course what birthday would be complete without a birthday card. I used Create a Critter to cut the cute Skunk at 3 inches..... the stump however is a horse of another color. I thought all the accessories were proportionate to the animal you cut. Not true. I had to cut the stump a couple of times but finally decided on 2 inches. The flower is cut at 3. and the cloud is cut at 1 3/4 inches. The sentiment is from Scrappy Mom's stamps which are my new obsession. Love them! On the back of the card I added one of my Stamps of Life stamps which are just adorable! Side note: She loved everything and is having a wonderful day! Woot woot!

Hoot and Holler

I LOVE the Hoot and Holler Cricut Lite Cartridge. Its the cutest. I made this super girly card last night. The owl is cut at 3 1/4 inches and the black heart is cut at 1 3/4 and the pink heart is cut at 1 1/2 inches. I used the new Polka Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background and used Spun Sugar Distress Ink to color it. Happy Friday!

Hey Chickie

So I will admit it. I totally scraplifted this card from one of the amazing blogs that I follow. The original was done using adorable black and white paper and a tulle (sp?) ribbon. I used DCWV Flower Shower Spring Stack ( I'm obsessed with that stack). I used Create a Critter for the birdie and the word bubble. I thought she turned out pretty cute. Happy Thursday!!

Hoot and Holler

Hoot and Holler is one of my new favorite Cricut Cartridges. The little owls and owl sayings are too too cute! (even if they have the same owl on it twice) You can't help but fall in love with these adorable little punkins! I cut the owls on both of these cards at 3 inches. On the purple owl I used a clear rhinestone for the heart on his belly. Thanks for looking and following my blog!

Finally

The top card was made using Just Because Cards. I didn't cut a card base from the cartridge because I wanted to use some scraps from the scrapbook layout I had made. I cut the glass of lemonade at 3 inches and the phrase is cut at 2 1/4 (i think). I forgot to write it down. I don't think its my favorite card I made this weekend but it turned out ok.

The second card I made yesterday used Create a Critter. The bowl and all the goodies in the bowl are cut at 3 inches. The cute little fish is cut at 1.5 inches. I used stardust stickles on the fishy and the bowl is outlined in waterfall stickles. The background paper is from K & Co. Citronella Stack.

I realized that I have not blogged for a while but I really am going to throw myself into blogging and showcasing my creations. I have been very intimidated by all of the gorgeous creations and blogs that other ladies have. I have no idea how to decorate my blog or use badges or anything but I will figure it all out eventually. Happy Monday!