Inspired by Artbooking

I don't have a Cricut (yet), but I love the artwork I've been seeing using CTMH's Cricut Artbooking Collection. CTMH posts a new video every week with ideas and how-to for Artbooking projects. Follow me on Facebook to see them.

The Artbooking look is very heavy on intricately cut backgrounds. For my Artbooking inspired layout, I turned to my Silhouette and cut a 8" x 11" herringbone background from Cocoa cardstock as well as the title. At first I thought I'd add patterned paper or cardstock strips behind the open areas of the herringbone pattern, but decided that would take way too long--this page was a 30-minute project.

Instead, I repeatedly stamped flower images from the Happy Autumn stamp set, using Crème Brulee, Goldrush and Olive inks, onto a 8.25" x 11.25" piece of Champagne cardstock. The affect reminds me of looking through a window, which is what this page is about.

The page is finished off with Huntington My Stickease (border, tab and banners) and canvas stickers and wooden button from the Huntington Assortment. The gems are from the Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment leftover from my Huntington Workshop on the  Go Kit, but can also be bought separately.

This page came together very quickly and is a great example of how you can create beautiful pages with a lot of style without using patterned paper!

Sneak Peek: Day 5

If you have a Cricut, you're going to LOVE CTMH's new offering. If you don't have a Cricut, beg, borrow or steal one because you're not going to want to miss out!

Take your scrapbooking to never-before-seen levels with the new Cricut Artbooking collection! With oodles of images in each of 15 layout themes, you can create several coordinating pages for each theme using just two keys and one dial size. Images include accents, borders, titles, overlays, photo mats--in standard photo sizes!--and more.

The Cricut keys are optimised for creating 12" x 12" pages in a jiffy. You'll love creating ten themed mini books, also optimised for several different sizes using just two keys and one dial size.

Celebrate birthdays, new baby, vacations, friends, sports, Halloween, Christmas, and more. When you're finished cutting, use the coordinating stamp sets and Dimensional Elements shapes to add even more pizazz!

The Cricut Artbooking collection includes the Cricut cartridge with 700 images, font, mini books and layouts; three My Acrylix D-size stamp sets; and three 12" x 9" Dimensional Elements in coordinating shapes.

Cricut Artbooking Bundle

You'll find pages, cards and mini books throughout the new Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Book featuring Artbooking die cuts. If you can't wait one more week until the new Idea Book comes online, check out my Close To My Heart Board on Pinterest. New images are being posted almost every day.

Not ready for Artbooking? CTMH has two other Cricut collections: Art Philosophy (basic brackets, frames, flowers and font) and Artiste (featuring themed projects, interactive cards and more). Whether you're a new or advanced crafter, there's a cartridge for you!

Did you know the Cricut collections are designed with CTMH stamps in mind? Whenever you see a stamp image outlined in red, that shape can be cut with one of the Cricut cartridges. Just refer to the note under the stamp to see which cartridge is needed. Also, on the stamp carrier sheet, you'll find the settings you need to cut the shape to exactly the right size. CTMH has made using the Cricut cartridges, coordinating stamps and shapes fast, simple and easy!

Scrapbooking Pajama Party!

Here's a message from Close To My Heart:

Close To My Heart is teaming up with Big Picture Classes to bring  you a live webcast about the Cricut® Artbooking collection. Purchase the collection beginning August 1, 2013 and revolutionize the way
you scrapbook!

Tune in for the FREE webcast on Wednesday, July 31 at 7:00 pm (MDT) at BigPictureClasses.com. During the presentation, you’ll learn to make several projects from a variety of sponsors, including
Close To My Heart’s Artbooking “2 of a Kind” layout.

If you’d like to interact on the message board, participate in live chat, post to the gallery, download handouts, or enter any contests, you will need to log in to the Pajama Party “classroom” by creating a FREE
account on the Big Picture Classes website.

We hope you enjoy this sneak peek of the new Artbooking collection as Kristine Widtfeldt and the Big Picture Classes crew make the featured project and share their tips and tricks. We know you will
be chomping at the bit to make the Artbooking layout, so take this opportunity to sit back, relax, and drool over the items, then be ready to spring into action August 1 when you can buy the collection. Then tune
in to the archived event for step-by-step details on how to make the project.

To make the project, you will need the following items—or similar products—on hand:

Z1906 Cricut® Artbooking Collection*
1301 Bamboo Cardstock
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
X5668 Honey Cardstock
X5762 Lagoon Cardstock
X5930 Slate Cardstock
X5639 Sweet Leaf Cardstock
X5666 Twilight Cardstock
Z2160 Twilight Exclusive Inks® Pad
Z2173 Slate Exclusive Inks® Pad
Z1853 Aqua Dots*
Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Z1294 Sanding Kit

*These products will be available for purchase beginning August 1, 2013.