Hi friends!  Just a quick announcement to let you all know that I have opened my store on Etsy - hooray!!!  And for a short time, I have featured 4 of my favorite projects at the very top of the store at $3, which is 40% off!  Plus, there are 64 others to browse through as well.  If you do ever use my Etsy store, I'd LOVE it if you can leave feedback so that others can get a sense of the quality.  Oh, and I did list a few of the older, super simple projects at $2 just because they're geared more toward beginners.  If you have any input for me or ideas on how to make my store better, please leave a comment here (I'll have to click to approve comments).  I'm just learning about this Etsy thing, so I can use all the help I can get.  Thanks, everyone!!

Monique Griffith Etsy Store

Hey everyone, be sure to see my previous post - there are a few of our older FULL kits available for purchase.  Well, I hope you all are doing fantastic and starting to get some glorious Fall weather.  My daughter just started 4th grade last week - how time flies!!  And now with her back in school, I can't say that I'm sad to have a little extra scrapbooking time on my hands, hehe.  
Well, here's a new layout for you.  Directions are on our Cricut Kits page. I started this while on vacation in Oregon a few weeks ago, even though I had not planned on it.  But I saw the CUTEST fall paper at a store up there, and then the wheels started turning.  Sometimes you've gotta just go where the inspiration leads you, right?  So the resulting layout is called "Fall Friends", and it's everything that makes me feel warm and fuzzy about this gorgeous time of year: Apple trees, crunchy leaves, furry critters, pumpkins, and home sweet home.  I don't know about you, but I have a ton of fall pictures, but usually find it difficult to put together a cute fall layout - maybe because I don't have a specifically fall cartridge.  But as it turns out, I did some digging around and found plenty of perfect fall images on two of my very favorite carts - Create a Critter and Everyday Paper Dolls.  

Now, before you freak out and run away screaming, let me tell you that yes, this IS a very detailed layout.  BUT there isn't anything truly difficult about it.  It just has a lot going on.  So as long as you're a little patient, and promise not to hate me, you can do this layout just fine and impress your friends at the crops you go to!  And believe me, these will be the best $5 directions you'll ever get.  Truly, this would be a nightmare to scraplift because everything is at weird sizes due to how strangely these 2 cartridges are designed.  For instance, that big old house is actually cut at 2 3/4".  So don't waste truckloads of paper and 8 hours of your time re-cutting things - I've already done it for you!  These directions are very, very thorough, have detailed paper info, my usual Cricut Cut Chart, and somewhere around 25 color photos, including lots of close-ups and some step-by-step pics.

Ok, let's talk about paper for a moment, shall we?  Paper is a very tricky thing for me as a designer, and for you as a consumer.  Paper is like clothing - it comes and goes fairly quickly in and out of stores.  It's usually easier to find it online, but even then it will sometimes be elusive, even if it hasn't been out for very long.  This new Fall Friends layout uses paper from Doodlebug that is very new, so that should help those of you who like to copy my designs to the last detail.  

However, if you ever purchase directions from a while back, and can't find the exact paper - it's ok!!  Find something kind of similar either in theme or in color scheme, and do your best to substitute.  And as far as the solid cardstock goes, I mostly use Bo Bunny's double dot cardstock because it cuts like butter, and they have fantastic colors.  However, you don't need to use the same stuff I use.  If you don't have Bo Bunny readily available, you can just gather your patterned papers and take them into any store that sells any brand of cardstock.  Then just find a bunch of solids that coordinate.  You can use my directions as your guide to make sure that you get a dark brown, medium brown, dark green, medium green, etc. and it will work just beautifully.

So now that we've had our little heart-to-heart discussion, here's the deal.  You can get the full directions for $5 for this Fall Friends layout and a bazillion of our other projects on the Cricut Kits page.  All directions include Cricut Cut Chart which shows you line by line exactly what to cut on your machine, well-organized written instructions and plenty of color photographs. If you purchase the directions using PayPal, you'll soon get an email with a link so you can automatically download the directions right away.  I'm not sure if Google Checkout is still working, as it is being done away with at some point soon.  But hey, nearly all of you seem to prefer PayPal, so that shouldn't be an issue.

To complete this project as shown, you'll need the following supplies:

Well, as you know, I have not had full kits in stock for well over a year.  However, as a favor to a very close friend of mine who has had a change in life circumstances, I am offering several of her kits here for sale.  Originally, most were $25 + shipping.  We'll sell them now for $25, but include free shipping in the United States only.  Sorry, but no shipping outside of the US at this time.  If you happen to be local to the Sacramento area, and want to pick up, just let me know.  



Tropical Escape Layout - Requires Life's a Beach cartridge.

 Beautiful U Layout - Requires Home Decor Cartridge.

Built to Play Layout - Requires Robotz Cartridge.

Christmas Morning Layout - Requires Joys of the Season Cartridge + any font.

Cruisin' Layout - Requires Nifty Fifties Cartridge.

Fabulous & Feisty Layout - Requires Paisley Cartridge.

Princess Layout - Requires Once Upon a Princess Cartridge.

Spring Into Action Layout - Requires A Child's Year Cartridge.

Tuff Girl Layout - Requires Rock Princess Cartridge.

Ps. Be on the lookout for another post in the next day or two.  I'll be posting my brand new Fall Friends layout, and I think it's safe to say that it's my most detailed design yet.