Think about mailing cards when you make them.

There are so many wonderful embellishments.  I love the look they give your cards.  They also give you something else - extra postage - usually an additional $.21 to mail.  In the post office, they have a slit they can pass (or not pass) the card through. If it doesn't make it, then it will get chewed up in the automated sorters.  When twine is tied in a knot, or you add 3-D foam or extra high bling, your card will NOT go through the mail unscathed.  As a matter of fact, it will most likely be torn to shreds. 

If you or the people making cards with you, are handing their cards to people, then you are ok doing whatever you want.  I have seen some great "bling" on cards at craft fairs and there are no warning signs telling people buying the cards that extra postage WILL be required.  You might slip by but if you have spent all that time deciding what stamps to use, what papers to use and then making a card, you don't want it destroyed before it reaches the person you created it for!

What do I do?  I use Close To My Heart glitter trim.  I use Close To My Heart embossing powder.  I use glitter glue and I do dry embossing.  I use the twine but only have it single layer and not tie a bow with it.  With ribbon, you can find a punch that looks like 2 slats and make a "fake" bow that will go through the mail.  There are many ways to have the same affect.  You can use smaller glue dots and still have a lift with your small pieces.

I get it.  Everything is modernized and all the mail goes through machines today.  It used to be you could say "hand stamp" and it didn't cost you any more but those days are over. Over are the days that local mail was done through local people.  Rather than saying "Woe is me", look at ways that enhance the cards without making them too thick or large for the mail.  It doesn't take long to think of things.  It may you have to adjust your favorite patterns but that is OK. You can still do the other cards with thick foam, tied twine and big bling.  Just tell people that these will need added postage.  I have used them and will gladly pay the extra postage to have the cards going to their intended addresses.  It isn't a big deal as long as you are prepared for it and the people making or buying the cards know that fact ahead of time.  Be creative but think ahead on where the cards are going and how they are going to get there.

Technique of the week - BYOB - Bring your own basics Level 2

BYOB - Level 1 was about some of the basic tools you will need.  BYOB Level 2 is about the next level of tools and things you will need to have to make cards or pages.

The first 2 things I would add to the list:
Craft knife and ruler.  The craft knife is helpful for the Cricut items that don't cut as clean as you like.  It is also useful to cut around things in that are too small or tight for the scissors.  If you don't have the VersaMat, you will need a self-healing mat of some kind.  A metal ruler is better as you can use it with the craft knife as well as for measuring. 

Next we start into the items that are personal to what projects you want to develop and work on.  Close To My Heart has a variety of stamps and inks.  One of the greatest things is that the My Acrylix stamps fit into a much smaller space that stamps on blocks.  They come in 6x6 plastic envelopes and you can see the stamp step clearly.  They come in A, B, C, and D sets.  The letters tell you the number of stamps that you are getting with each set.  There are also 3x3 small sets as well.

Look at the stamp sets to see what you need.  Think about the projects that you will be doing.  If you are working on cards, you will need smaller stamps and sayings.  If you are working on pages, you might get larger alphabets and larger stamps.  If you work on both, you will find that you will need a combination of them.  If you are doing scrapbooks of your kids, you will want more school things and youth things.  What you are doing will depend on what kind of stamps you seek to buy.  You can go to my website and shop around for stamps.

In order to use the stamps, you need to get the My Acrylix blocks.  You coose the block that fits closest to the stamp you want to use.  Excess block means that you will often get ink from the stamp pad onto the block and wind up making marks you didn't intent to make.  The blocks come in sizes 1x1, 1x 3 1/2, 2x2, 3x3, 2x 3 1/2, 2 x 6 1/2, and 4x5. 

You will need cleaner and a cleaning pad for your stamps and blocks.  The basic ink pads with Close To My Heart are water base.  There are smaller ones that are pigment ink.  The water base are good for projects that are protected.  If your project is out on a wall or table, you will want to use the pigment inks.  The scrubbing pad has little bristles that are best to clean the little grooves of the pigment ink.  Close To my Heart also has Archival Black StazON inks and cleaners.  These are waterproof, fade-proof and non-smearing . 

The Close To My Heart inks match the paper colors.  You will not only need to clean the stamps but the blocks after each use as well.  The next thing to talk about is paper and projects.  The places to go are varied from here as to embellishments and bling.  Stay tuned to how you can really make things Pop!

Technique of the Week - BYOB - Bring Your Own Basics Level 1

Someone asked me "What do I need to get started?"  Even as I answered that question in person and then tried to figure out what I might write about it, the list kept getting longer and longer.  I guess as you branch out, there are other things that become essentials. You will need paper, ink and stamps to do any project.  To work with those things you will need the following:

Where do you start?  I started with CUTTING:

You need a small and large scissors.  The best is titanium as it won't stick to the adhesives.  Close To My Heart has these Non-stick Micro tip scissors.

You will also need a paper trimmer.  These come in all sizes and shapes.  You have to look at the platform you want.  Some have a 6 inch platform.  Many times I have found that I cut under the 6 inches and don't need to pull the arm out.  The most important thing is that you can read the numbers.  On some trimmers, the number's aren't in black and it becomes hard to see where to cut.  Also some trimmers use tracks with a groove and the blade will wobble over time and not cut as accurately.  Some use rotary cutters and mats.  Look at what is replacement parts.  The cheapest to buy may not always serve you in the long run nor be cheapest to maintain. Close To My Heart  has a

SureCut™ Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer.

The next big thing is to "stick" things together with adhesives.  There are many different types of "sticky" and they each have their special uses.

 There are tape runners.  Some have dots and some are solid and some are in squares.  There is also liquid like the Broad Tip Glue Pen as well as a Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen which is smaller.  You need to make sure of where you are using the adhesive as some time you need to go close to the edge which goes over.  You can put scrap paper under you or have the  All Purpose Mat  or the VersaMat.

But it doesn't end there.  One of the best investments I ever made was for the Rub and Remove Eraser. This has been THE most wonderful thing in doing the cards from the Cricut Artfully Sent as many times the adhesive can be seen from the front and this little wonder gets it right off.

 You also need to be able to clean the stamps when you use them.  This is a 2 part process - the liquid cleaner and something to put it on.  There are many stamp pad cleaners.  You can even use paper towel.  Using a cleaner preserves your stamps and keeps them usable. 

So much for Level 1.  Level 2 will come later as I talk about using other products.  All the links are to my website.  You can find the My Acrylix® Stamp Sets, My Reflections™ Scrapbook Products (12" × 12"), and  Exclusive Inks™.  There is also plain cardstock to fill in for other projects.  

When you go to a crop or workshop, check if you need to bring your own basics or find out what will be provided for you.  The Level 1 is what you will need at home or away to make the projects that will keep your memories for a long time.  

Technique of the week - getting designs

Where do you get your ideas to make things?  You can shop on my website to get Workshop on the Go's.  These are Close To My Heart kits that give you the paper, stamp, directions and "bling" to make pages or cards.  You can get the How To Program books.  Here you have the directions for pages or cards.  You can take what ever paper and bling you have and put things together.   It shows a basic design and then some variations that you can do. 

You can of course do what people call "scrap-lift" and get ideas from the Idea books or other websites.  You can also just use your imagination!   I decided rather than do a few designs for the vendor fair, to try and do as many designs as I could with the paper. 

I tried making some of the cards from the Artfully Sent Cricut collection.

I had the Confetti Wishes paper.  It was fun to see how different the paper looks with different designs.  After doing some of the Cricut cards, I tried doing some different designs with the same paper with stamps. 

I also tried to use the same design with different paper for the theme of Father's day. 

I did wet embossing on the typewriter and just regular ink on the other cards.  Some of the stamp sets I used were new and some were old.  You can find the new products on the website.  The new stamp sets are all together.  You will always be able to buy those stamps that match with the Cricut cartridges. The older products can be found at While Supplies Last.   Remember that for the month of April, the Deal of the Day will give you new and old products in a grab bag.  The offer changes every day at 3pm. 

Challenge yourself by getting out certain paper or a certain stamp or a certain design and see where it leads you.  Look through some old Idea books. I used to keep the old cards I had made.  I used these for ideas on new designs but have instead started taking photos of the cards and keeping the photos on file.  I also have made sketches on graph paper and keep them in a notebook.  I look through some of my old Workshop on the Go's and How To Programs and have fun coming up with new ideas.  There are many places to look for designs.  You need to develop a system so when you are going to do a project, you will have some place to go to get ideas.  If you don't, you will spend most of your time thinking up ideas instead of working on projects.  It is good to always look for designs as you don't know when an idea will hit you!  Happy scrapping!

Technique of the Week - making Gift Card cards

Mother's Day, Father's Day and Graduation are all coming up. The end of the school year means giving gifts to teachers and saying Thank You for the great year.  Many times we get a gift card and stick it in a card.  I went back to my Cricut Artiste Collection and found some great ideas.  You can click on the link and go right to my site and order it today!  Here are the fun cards that you can make:

The gift card goes right inside the popup section or in the case of the Father's day card you can put a piece of tape to keep it in the card.  The Father's day card was made at 5 1/2 inches and will need a 5 x 7 size envelope.  The other cards fit into a regular envelop fine. 

I have had this cartridge forever and just found this great way to use it!  It is spring and new life abounds.  I am having fun looking at things I have had  - paper, product and cartridges - and seeing new ways to use them.  It is fun to bring new things to life.