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Papel Picado


Ever heard of Papel Picado?  I bet you've seen the Mexican folk art.  Papel picado or "perforated paper" is a decorative craft made out of paper cut into beautiful and elaborate designs.  Create your own version with the Fiesta Time stamp set.  And then decorate your party with papel picado in beautiful banners of paper designs.

STUCK on You

Cacti are the theme this month with the Prickly Pear stamp and scrapbooking kits. Two Thin Cut/stamp sets are available to help with all things prickly.  Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought, and many live in extremely dry environments.  Their spines are modified leaves provide protection from herbivores, camouflage, and assist in water conservation.  Cacti are pretty cool plants to give as gifts and why not create a cacti card to go with it?

 

Llamas are another part of this kit's images.  They are related to camels, and usually easy to tell the difference from their humped cousins.  But can you tell the difference between llamas and alpacas?  According to modernfarmer, six things are different.
  1. Their ears: Alpacas have short spear-shaped ears, while llamas have much longer, banana-shaped ears.
  2. Their size: Alpacas generally weigh around 150 pounds, while llamas can get as heavy as 400 pounds. At the shoulder, an average alpaca stands between 34 and 36 inches, while a llama generally ranges between 42 and 46 inches.
  3. Their faces: Llamas have a longer face; an alpaca’s face is a bit more blunt, giving them a “smooshed in” look.
  4. Their purpose: For more than 5,000 years alpacas have been bred for fiber (and in Peru for meat as well), while llamas have been bred for the same amount of time as pack animals and meat.
  5. Their hair: The alpaca produces a much finer fiber than the llama. The alpaca also produces more fleece than its larger cousin and in a much greater variety of colors. Llamas also generally do not have as much hair on their head and face as alpacas do.
  6. Their dispositions: Alpacas are very much herd animals, while llamas are more independent minded. Alpacas also tend to be a bit more skittish than llamas, which are often used as guard animals for alpacas, sheep, and other small livestock.

Check out the cool plants and animals in the Prickly Pear collection.

Oh, Canada!

Did you know that Canada celebrated 150 year of Canadian Confederation on July 1, 2017?  In 1867, Canada was created with British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick and then split into provinces.  Happy Canada Day!


One of the sneak peeks of the new 2017-18 Idea Books is in an exclusive product bundle that you can purchase during the month of July at 20% off the retail price! This bundle includes the brand new Canadian-themed digital Cricut® collection as well as a Canada 150 stamp set and 12 sheets of cardstock.

Cacti vs Cactuses



One of those age-old questions, is it cacti or cactuses? Apparently, you can use either! Cacti is the Latin plural of cactus, and some writers use it in English. Cactuses is the English plural. Both are found in the dictionary.  Check out these cute cacti in the Prickly Pear papers.


The Prickly Pear set of papers and goodies has way more than cacti images.  Have you seen the llama?  Goodness, llamas are everywhere these days. Almost as prolific as the baby goats in pajamas.  And all in cute fun!  It also includes great sayings to Celebrate the good times and happy days.


The following three 2-page layouts are part of the Workshop this month.  I LOVE how you can use kits that seem sometimes super specific to a theme, and use them for something else.  None of the following layouts are about living in the southwest, where cacti typically grow.  Easy instructions HERE help you put these layouts together.




Illuminated Letters

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/view/830
 Before the invention of printing, copies of books had to be handwritten. A scribe would obtain a book to copy and painstakingly write out every word, in ink with a quill pen. The manuscript can be decorated with initials, borders, and miniature illustrations. This month's stamp set make it easy to create illuminated letters to recreate illuminated manuscript documents like you see below.


Or take several of the letters and create bold titles or greetings like the layout above or cards.  This cute title page with the banners starts a mini-album from a travel album full of Adventures.



Storybook Alphabet
SOTM: Storybook Alphabet

Embrace a Cactus!



Prickly Pear is a new Reflections collection full of vibrant colors and images that evoke the southwest. Anyone remember that llama commercial from Geico? I'm not sure what it is about llamas that make me giggle, but they are pretty amazing animals. And we have a stamp for that! Two matching Thin Cut/Stamp sets help you to decorate your paper projects.

https://inkysquid.closetomyheart.com/retail/search.aspx?searchvalue=pear 
https://inkysquid.closetomyheart.com/retail/search.aspx?searchvalue=pear

Prickly Pear is also a new Workshop Your Way, so you can get the paper packet, complements, and goodies all in one collection. Get yours today!

Free Stamps!

Get your hands on some retired stamp sets and earn free ones too!

Let Stampaganza 2017 begin!  If you love to stamp and had your eye on a few sets, Stampganza is the best way to get tons of free sets.  If you've been wanting to try stamping, get a few different kinds to try your hand at it.

The Details:
Buy any two My Acrylix® stamp sets at full retail price and get a third stamp set of equal or lesser value FREE! Choose from any stamp set in the current idea book, plus a collection of popular sets that we have brought back just for Stampaganza! Check on my online shop or on Facebook for an image of all the retired stamps that are back JUST for this month!

CTMH Retiring Colors

 
The Basics Color Palette is retiring, so make sure to get your hands on the goodies of the following colors: Slate, Whisper, Cocoa, Chocolate, Saddle, Cashmere, Champagne, Desert Sand, and Bamboo. Some of these colors have been around forever, so get the supplies you need.  This includes cardstock, ink pads, and reinkers. We have 10 new colors to replace them, so check those out next month! 

Sea Glass and Colonial White are also retiring. We have a new Color of the Year to debut next month. Black is sticking around, but is being moved out of a palette to join White Daisy on its own.