Pebbles Layout

Happy Monday!  Normally I'm not much of a Monday person but I am just happy I made it through the weekend.  Whew - was it a busy one!  I traveled to Valley Forge, PA on Saturday for a Cricut Meet Up hosted by Provo Craft and then stuck around to help out at the Creating Keepsakes Scrap N Play event.  I always love meeting people in person that share the same passion for this hobby that I do and this weekend was no different.  Thank you to everyone that I met for being so sweet! 

This week on the Pebbles blog is all about snips & snails and puppy dog tails.  In other words we are celebrating one of our newest collections ... New Arrival Boy!  This is such an adorable collection - the colors are classic baby boy but the mixture of embellishments definitely gives it a modern spin.  I chose to do a layout introducing my newest nephew Kian.

Isn't he just a doll?  I took this picture of him when he was just 5 days old.  I love sleeping baby pics!  I used the New Arrival Boy rub ons to create a cardstock tag giving the details of his birth date, weight, etc. 

And quite possibly my favorite piece out of this new collection are these felt embellishments.  Love them! Which is probably why I put 3 of them on my layout!  LOL

Stop by the Pebbles blog to see what other projects the design team has created with this fabulous new collection all week long.  Oh and if you really want to get your hands on some of these goodies I would make sure to check out the blog on Friday ... just sayin' is all!  ;)

Abracadabra!

Wanna see me do a magic trick?  Head on over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog to read about how I perform a little magic using the fabulous Hocus Pocus collection by Pink Paislee.  Here's a little peek for ya ...

And as it says above "Stop by by for a spell ... Or else!"  ;)

Monochromatic Monday

As I was typing the title for this post I kinda wanted to start singing "Manic Monday" by the Bangles but refrained since a) I can't sing if my life depended on it.  Well, I CAN sing, I'm just not very good at it and b) I would seriously be dating myself.  But of course I think I've already done that now haven't I?  ;)  SO ... why don't I just share with you my Monochromatic Monday project for the Pink Paislee blog instead?

Scrapping with just one color is hard.  Well hard for me since I am a color gal at heart so this assignment was a wee bit challenging for me and you'll see I kinda sorta just.a.little.bit cheated and added in another color on my layout.  I couldn't help myself.  I just had to!

Orange with splashes of green.  Perfect colors for October and all things pumpkin picking.  Speaking of pumpkins check out my little cutie patootie in those pumpkin patch photos.  Can you believe that little dude is now my oldest Darian?  My how time flies!

Just a little detail shot of my title work.  I love using the large Weathered Wood Expressions as a mask for misting.  I actually have a whole set that I keep aside just for this purpose.  So fun.  And shamefully easy to do.

I am also the guest designer this week on one of my favorite scrapbook magazine blogs.  Check out the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog and see what magic I've been cookin' up!  :)

why "hello" there!

Hey everyone!  Just popping in with a quick post today.  I am knee deep in projects and working on a tight deadline so I haven't had much time this week to post but I did want to share this "hello" card that is up on the Pebbles blog today.  I used strips of patterned paper from the Twitterpated collection (one of my fav collections from Pebbles) along with coordinating Pebbles Chips and Journaling Stickers (the alphabet stickers are from Doodlebug Design).  I just zig zag stitched the strips to my card base, added my chipboard and stickers, and voila!  Done.  Quick and easy but oh so cute!

Okay I am off to dive head first into the pile of "to dos" that awaits me.  I will say that if you love Pebbles Candy Dots (and who doesn't?) you'll definitely want to stop by the Pebbles blog tomorrow.  Just sayin' is all.  ;)

And the winners are ...

Before I announce the winners of the Gypsy giveaway first let me say a big ol' THANK YOU!  Thank you for all of the sweet comments and the warm welcome.  I am so very excited to be a part of the Cricut Circle Blog design team and look forward to all of the exciting things this new adventure has in store.

And now without further ado here are my lucky THREE winners (yep! you read that right!  ProvoCraft has given me not one, not two, but THREE Gypsys to give away!) ...

Congratulations to my three lucky winners!  Please contact me at lghahary(at)cevant(dot)com with your full name and mailing address.  I will send your Gypsys out as soon as they arrive to me (they are in transit from ProvoCraft).  Shipping will be free for winners within the United States but I do ask that International winners contribute to the shipping costs.  Thank you again!

Coach's Gift Set

Hi everyone!  Well today I am sharing my project that I created for my first post as a Cricut Circle Blog Design Team member.  Anyone who knows me knows that we are huge football fans in the Ghahary house.  To say we are a football obsessed family might be just a tad bit of an understatement.  I think my boys learned to spell J-E-T-S before they could spell cat or dog!  ;)  Not only do we love to watch football, but my oldest son Darian loves to play football and he is lucky enough to have his Daddy as his coach.  I created this “Coach’s Gift Set” with my husband in mind.

To create the altered frame I first covered an unfinished wood frame purchased at a local craft store with green patterned paper.  I used the Sports Mania cartridge (a MUST HAVE for the sports fans out there) to cut the football and grass and popped everything up with dimensional adhesive.  Just a quick tip: the football has some pretty intricate cuts and I found that I needed to cut my image at 2 ½” using the Multi Cut feature to achieve all of the details.  I used the Varsity Letter cartridge to cut the word “COACH” and adhered my letters to a swoosh image also cut from the Sports Mania Cartridge.  A few layered stars complete the look.  Here’s a detail photo of the main part of the frame …

To create the treat container I used the flower pot image from the Cindy Loo cartridge.   I again used the Sports Mania cartridge to cut grass from my green patterned paper and adhered it to the bottom edge of my container using dimensional adhesive.  I used the Martha Stewart All Occasion Cake cartridge to create the layered star tag and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the circle and “#1” sentiment.  This is such a fun and easy gift to make and can be personalized to hold your coach’s favorite treat - I happen to know my hubby loves the new pretzel M&Ms!  ;)

To create the “thank you” card I again used my trusty Sports Mania cartridge to cut the football field background block and helmet.  Is that field not the coolest or what?  Just a quick tip:  the helmet has a lot of intricate cuts and I found that I needed to cut my image at 2 ½” using the Multi Cut feature to achieve all of the details.  I added a rub on sentiment to a strip of white cardstock along with a metal brad as well as a stapled loop of ribbon in the upper left hand corner of my background block for a bit of detail.    Finally a layered star ties the card in with my other items and my coach’s gift set is complete!

Materials Used –

Cindy Loo Cartridge
Lite Varsity Letter Cartridge
Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art Cartridge
Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art Cartridge
Plantin SchoolBook Cartridge
Sports Mania Cartridge
Cardstock (Core’dinations)
Patterned Paper (Scenic Route)
Staples (Office Supply)
Brad (Making Memories)
Ribbon (Craft Supply)
Rub Ons (Stampin’ Up!)
Pen (Signo)
Frame (Darice)
Dimensional Adhesive (American Crafts)
Adhesive (American Crafts)

Altered Frame –

Cut Football using Sports Mania Cartridge
·      Shadow 2 ½” using white cardstock
·      Layer 2 ½” using dark brown cardstock
·      2 ½” using kraft cardstock

Cut Grass using Sports Mania Cartridge
·      1 ½” using dark green cardstock

Cut Swoosh using Sports Mania Cartridge
·      1 ½” using yellow cardstock

Cut “COACH” using Varsity Letter Cartridge
·      Narrow 1 ½” using white cardstock
·      Narrow Shift 1 ½” using blue cardstock

Cut Stars using Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Cartridge
·      Shift using yellow and blue cardstock in varying sizes

Treat Container –

Cut Container using Cindy Loo Cartridge
·      5 ½” using kraft cardstock

Cut Star Tag using Martha Stewart All Occasion Cake Cartridge
·      2 ½ using blue cardstock
·      Shift 2 ½” using yellow cardstock

Cut “#1” using Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge
·      Shadow Shift ¾” <3> using dark brown cardstock
·      Shadow 1 ¼” <1> using dark brown cardstock

Cut Circle using Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge
·      1 ½” using kraft cardstock

“Thank You” Card –

Cut Football Field Background Block using Sports Mania Cartridge
·      Background 3” using dark green cardstock

Cut Football Helmet using Sports Mania Cartridge
·      2 ½” using dark brown cardstock
·      Layer 2 ½” using blue cardstock

Cut Stars using Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Cartridge
·      Shift 2” using yellow cardstock
·      Shift 1” using blue cardstock

I just want to say thank you for all of the wonderful comments left on my blog yesterday - I loved reading each and every one of them.  There is still plenty of time to enter the giveaway so be sure to leave a comment on this post for your chance to win! 

I can finally let the cat outta the bag!

Awhile back I alluded to a new opportunity that I was presented with way back in August and lemme tell you it was hard keeping this little tid bit under wraps for so long!  I am so very excited to share that I have been asked to join the Cricut Circle Blog Design Team!

For those of you that know me you know that I LOVE my Cricut.  It is such a fun machine to use and the possibilities are just endless.  Not too long ago Provo Craft launched the Cricut Circle.  Here's a bit about the Circle for those of you that are unfamiliar ...

The Cricut Circle is Provo Craft’s affinity program.  The Circle is a place to Inspire, Educate and Create.  This program enables crafters to see Provo Craft products first, be involved in specialized focus groups and surveys, receive special pre-launch specials on select Provo Craft products, a private blog and message board for Circletes to foster a special crafting community.  Additionally, Cricut Circle members will enjoy 4 exclusive cartridges—one each quarter, instructional webinars and double reward points for purchases on Cricut.com.

The Cricut Circle is available for annual or quarterly installments. To purchase a membership to the Cricut Circle visit cricut.com.  Annual memberships are $274.99 and quarterly memberships at $79.99.

The Cricut Circle Blog will be THE place for Circle members to gain daily inspiration, participate in challenges, oh and let's not forget the giveaways!  LOL  While the Cricut Circle Blog is exclusive to Cricut Circle members the good folks at Provo Craft have decided to open it up to EVERYONE for our launch week because we want you to be able to see what all the hoopla is about!

Wanna see what I created for my first Cricut Circle Blog project?  Here's a little sneak peek to get you started ...

You'll have to stop back here tomorrow to see the full monty!  I know I'm such a tease!  LOL  How about a giveaway to make up for it?  Do you know what a Gypsy is?  All you have to do to be entered into a random drawing to win a Gypsy is follow my blog (over on the lower left sidebar) and leave a comment on this post.  I'll leave this giveaway open until midnight (EST) on Friday, October 8th and announce my winner on Saturday, October 9th!   I have not one but TWO Gypsys to give away.  Pretty cool, huh?