Readers and "Cars" fans alike!

All right everyone. Here's a twist to make reading more fun for the beginning learner. Our designer Katie just finished making this charming reading race track, which features the amazing artwork from Provo Craft's Cars Cricut cartridge, among others. Who wouldn't want to rev up their engine and power through a whole bunch of books with a chart like this?

So fun, huh? Wanna know how she did it? Who wouldn't? Well just so you know, these instructions are pretty detailed, so if you get lost, you can e-mail Katie and ask her any questions you may have. She's great to help explain things. Her e-mail is Katie at ohmycrafts dot com.

So here we go.

Supplies:

Bazzill Papers

Toronto

Nightmist

Hillary

Bumblebee

Hong Kong

Cashmere

Brown

Smoky

Thunder

Juneberry

Saltillo

Bazzill White

Black OP

Yosemite

Other supplies:

Making Memories 12x12 Metallic Paper

Making Memories 8x8 Vellum Paper

We R Memory Keepers Large Gromlets (yellow, green, red, blue, orange)

American Crafts Memory Markers

Scrap Paper

Cricut Personal Cutter

Cars Cricut Cartridge

Jubilee Cartridge

Paper Trimmer

Adhesive

Step 1: Here's the part that takes the longest. Cut all your paper as follows, and organize piles according to where it will be placed on the chart (Mater, Lightning McQueen, phrase, etc.) Some of these pieces are very small, so make sure not to drop or lose anything.

• You'll need two full sheets of Toronto. Set aside. These will be your base pages.

• Nightmist: With your paper trimmer, cut into two 4-inch strips. With the Cars cartridge, cut "Let's Cruise" at 1 1/4 size in your Cricut (Ramone1, Spare Parts Blackout).

• Hillary: With your paper trimmer, cut four strips—two strips 1 inch wide, two strips 1/2 inch. With the Cars cartridge, cut Mater1, detail in 3 1/2 inch, and Mater1, eyes 3 1/2 inch. With the Jubilee cartridge, cut the shadow of your letters.

• Bumblebee: With the Jubilee cartridge, cut your letters. With the Cars cartridge, cut the shadow of Mater1 (3 1/2 inch) and McQueen7 (4 inch), "Let's Cruise" (Ramone1, spare parts) in 1 1/4 inch size, McQueen7 detail (at 4 inches), and your road blackouts. If you choose to do the road as it is shown, cut 20 straight roads (SnotRod Spare Parts Blackout), 13 curves (Wingo Spare Parts Blackout), and 2 intersections (Boost Spare Parts Blackout) at 1 inches.

• Hong Kong: With the Cars cartridge, cut McQueen7 detail in a 4-inch size and Mater1 shift Body/White/Windows) in 3 1/2 inch size.

• Cashmere: Cut Mater1 Body/White/Windows in 3 1/2 inch size

• Brown: Cut Mater1 detail in 3 1/2 inch size.

• Smoky: Cut Mater1 shift detail in 3 1/2 inch size.

• Thunder: Cut Mater1 Tires/Eyes in 3 1/2 inch size.

• Juneberry: Cut Mater1 shift detail in 3 1/2 inch size and McQueen7 shift detail in 4 inch size.

• Saltillo: Cut Mater1 detail in 3 1/2 inch size.

• Bazzill White: Cut Mater1 shift Body/White/Windows in 3 1/2 inch size and McQueen7 shift Body/White/Windows in 4 inch size.

• Black OP: Cut McQueen7 Tires/Eyes in 4 inch size.

• Yosemite: Cut McQueen7 shift Tires/Eyes.

• Metallic Black: Cut McQueen7 in 4 inch size and Mater1 in 3 1/2 inch size, "Finish Line" (Doc1 Spare Parts) in 1 1/4 inch size, and your road top. If you're following the road as shown, cut 20 straight roads (SnotRod Spare Parts), 13 curves (Wingo Spare Parts), and 2 intersections (Boost Spare Parts) in 1 inch size.

• Metallic Red: Cut McQueen7 Body/White/Windows in 4 inch size.

• Metallic Gold: Cut the Piston cup (TheKing1 Spare Parts) in 3 3/4 size.

• Vellum Red: Cut the Finish Line Blackout (Doc1 Spare Parts Blackout) in 1 1/2 inch size.

Whew. Still with us?

Step 2: Now that you FINALLY have all your pieces cut out, it's time for the fun! Assemble Mater, Lightning McQueen, road pieces, letters (with shadow), and "Let's Cruise." With the Piston Cup and "Finish Line" we will be making a shadow effect but since there isn't the shadow option in this cartridge, we just cut bigger sizes and have to alter the pieces we cut to make them work. So, with the "Finish Line," you'll need to trim the end off of your Metallic Gold and Vellum Red rectangles to make the Metallic Black "Finish Line" phrase center in the middle of them (the gold piece is 4 3/4 inches long and the red piece is 4 1/4 inches after cutting). For the Piston Cut, you will want to cut the Vellum Gold shadow piece right underneath the "cup" where the stem starts.

Step 3: Adhere your Hillary green 1-inch and 1/2-inch strips to your Nightmist 4-inch strip. Make sure the Hillary strips match up on both Nightmist strips. Now take your Toronto pages and adhere the Nightmist strips.

Step 4: Arrange your road, letters, cars, Piston Cup, "Finish Line," and "Let's Cruise" on your page. Adhere all the pieces. with a navy blue Memory Marker, outline your letters, road pieces, cars, and phrase pieces.

Step 5: Pick your large gromlets and arrange as you please. Push through and secure.

And wal-lah. You've got yourself (and your kiddos) a super-fun reading race track!

Happy crafting!

Want a little teaser?

Okay, so this week is turning out to be one big get-ready-for-the-cruise week. Yesterday we introduced our AMAZING teachers and sponsors. And today we'd like to offer you a sneak peak at some of the projects we'll be working on while floating about on our pleasure cruise. And don't be alarmed. If—after looking at these pictures—your excitement for this cruise becomes heightened to a new level of all-out ecstatic-ism, that's okay. It's usually best to handle these situations by jumping up and down (wherever you are), flailing your arms, and shouting "AAAAAAH!" It only adds to the frenzy and it's glorious.

So here they are. Keep in mind that this isn't everything we'll be doing. Just a portion. Naturally, we've got more up our sleeves.

Here's a sample of the Bazzill progressive project:

And our other progressive project is with Making Memories.

And naturally, our crazy Canucks, Trisha Ladouceur and Janine Wahl, have something wonderful in store. Here's a sample of the grunge board project they're planning.

And in your class with David Ross, you'll be able to choose one of these three canvas projects to make!

And finally, here's the advanced Cricut project you'll be making with Provo Craft's talented Jill Webster. It's called Pumpking with a Punch! This home decor project is sure to be a pleaser! This fun, fall frame incorporates Cuttlebug, Gypsy, Cricut, and yudu (Using the new 210 screen). Learn fabulous techniques including: inking cuttlebug embossing folders, welding and stretching characters with Gypsy, and applying vinyl with flawless results!

Should we have another "AAAAAAAH!!!!!!" for the road? Perfect.

See you soon!

40 days 'til the cruise, but who's counting?

We have just about six weeks before we set out on the waters through New England and Canada for our much-awaited-for Falltime cruise! We're bursting at the seams to get this party started. And we're proud to tell you all that we have some of the best sponsors around. Here's some great information on all of the teachers who will be attending our cruise.

Provo Craft

Yarik Mainwood and Jill Webster

Yarik Mainwood is from Venezuela, and has been with Provo Craft since 2000. She has a 6-month-old daughter, Hailey. She is currently a Sales Account Manager (she is responsible for getting Oh My Crafts the great deals we offer). Yarik loves the craft industry and working for Provo Craft is wonderful because she gets to work with so many talented people selling the new trends Provo Craft offers to their customers. Yarik loves to shop, scrapbook and travel and is really happy to enjoy this crafting getaway with all the crafters joining us on this trip. This is Yarik's second time on board with Oh My Crafts.

Jill Webster was born and raised in England with her eight siblings. Her love of design started at a young age. She moved to America in 1980 with her growing family. When she learned about Provo Craft it opened up a world of creativity. Jill has extensive experience teaching classes and educating people about different products from Provo Craft. She was an in-house designer for Provo Craft for ten years—designing everything from tole painting books, scrapbook products, home decor and gift products. She is now the product sample manager at Provo Craft and has been able to bring all her designing skills together and continues to use them in her current position.

To learn more about the products offered by Provo Craft, click here.

Bazzill Basics Paper

Marti & Doug Jones

Marti and Doug Jones, "Mr. and Mrs. Bazzill," own Bazzill Basics Paper and Scrapbooks, Etc., a scrapbook store in Arizona. When Marti and Doug started out as scrapbooking retailers they immediately saw the need for quality cardstock in a variety of colors. They took this idea and created the first-ever line of monochromatic cardstock colors that included a texture. 10 years later, these two have continued to produce new cardstock colors and other scrapbooking related products because of their passion for keeping memories.

To learn more about Bazzill Basics Paper, click here.

Making Memories

Jodi Holbrook

Jodi's passion for travel and her organization skills are a perfect blend for her event manager role at Making Memories. Since she was a child she was described as a people person. To fill those shoes she has made a career of meeting and getting to know people from all over the world. Jodi grew up in Layton, Utah with her parents and four siblings. Last year Jodi adopted a son. The miracle of being a mom has only deepened her passion for scrapbooking. She believes it is wonderful to be able to capture the moments of an innocent child and knows it's the memories that are what make us whole. Over the years working for Making memories she has been able to travel from South Africa to Australia and across the states to share the creativity Making Memories has to offer. Jodi graduated from Weber State University in Communications. She has been with Making Memories for over five years now and loves working with the amazing products and people that work to bring the product to you.

To learn more about Making Memories, click here.

CARDS / Scrapbook Trends / Simply Handmade Magazine (Northridge Media)

David Ross

David is the Marketing Director for Northridge Media, the company that produces the popular Scrapbook Trends, CARDS and Simply Handmade Magazines. Most of his friends give him a real hard time about the lack of masculinity in his field of work, but he thinks he is just getting smarter with age. He would rather work with women all day than men every day of the week. He has worked in this industry now for about 8 years. David was a lead salesman at My Minds Eye for many years and while he was there he taught classes on a regular basis all across the country. He is a firm believer that a class should be as fun as it is educational. He has three children; a 12-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son and a 4-year-old "Prince." His hobbies outside of work are golf, golf and golf. He also has an addiction to restoring old VW's. David grew up in Spokane, WA and has spent the last few years of his life in Utah. He loves the outdoors and is looking forward to the New England cruise and joining the everyone again on the Oh My Crafts cruise. This is David's second time on board with our gang.

To learn more about Northridge Media and their wonderful magazines, click here.

Independent Designers

Trisha Ladouceur and Janine Wahl

Trisha Ladouceur has been an avid scrapbooker for nearly 11 years and has taught for more the 9 years in Canada and the U.S., as well as overseas. She has been married to her best friend, Drew, for more than 16 years and has two wild, but devilishly handsome boys, Logan and Carter. She resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where the long, cold winters provide plenty of scrapbooking time for her. Trisha has the distinct honor and privilege of being an Endorsed Educator for a few of the industry's leading manufacturers, such as Prima, My Mind's Eye, Graphic 45, Riff Raff Designs, Tattered Angels, and most recently: Bazzill Paper! Trisha loves to create projects that are very detail oriented and incorporate texture and dimension wherever possible. You will not find a "flat" project anywhere in her porfolio! She believes that when steps are broken down, any task can be accomplished by any level of crafter. Trisha joined Oh My Crafts for our Alaskan cruise earlier this spring, and is thrilled to be re-joining us again.

Be sure to drop by her blog to learn more about what Trisha is up to!

Janine Wahl has been scrapbooking and memory keeping since 2004 and enjoys the creative process. She has been actively involved in the scrapbook industry since 2005, creating projects for publishers and manufacturers and teaching at various events. Her teaching experience also expands into her accounting and finance position in the corporate world, where she actively trains and mentors employees. When Janine is not busy with creative pursuits, you can find her and her husband and son venturing in and around their home of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, enjoying many outdoor activities and making many memories along the way.

You can learn more about Janine by visiting her blog.

And finally, here's a little bit about the brains behind this whole adventure—Oh My Crafts!

Oh My Crafts is owned and operated by Kevin and Sandy Cottle. Collectively they have over 20 years of experience in the corporate world, as well as working with smaller companies and consulting with businesses on strategy and global sourcing techniques. Kevin graduated from Utah State University in Mechanical Engineering and spent many years working for Hewlett-Packard Company in design, technical marketing and new product development. Sandy also graduated from USU with a Business degree and is the founder of Oh My Crafts. She enjoys cooking, sewing, and a variety of crafting techniques. It was her business experience and the love for preserving family memories that created Oh My Crafts, Inc. Kevin and Sandy enjoy many outdoor activities and love to travel with their four children. Their passion for travel and business are the basis for the Oh My Crafts mission statement: "...delivering possibilities..."

Oh My Crafts, Inc. is located in Utah, close to many of the companies that supply the popular paper crafting products. As a company, we are focused on delivering quality products to customers around the world. We hope that our enthusiasm for crafts shows in our low prices and friendly service.

We do wish that EVERYONE could join us for this cruise. We had so much fun on our Alaskan one, and we know this next one is going to be tons of fun too. Stick with us right here on the blog and our Facebook page to be the first to learn about the other events we have planned for 2010!

Happy crafting!

It's time for another...

You might remember a couple of weeks ago when we announced that we'd be occasionally showing off what some of our talented designers have been working on right here at Oh My Crafts. Hopefully all you teachers and students are getting settled back into a new school year. Take a look at Lindsey's assortment of back to school crafts she created using Imaginisce's Teacher's Pet kit. If you like these and want to ask Lindsey questions, you can e-mail her at lindseyfillmore @ yahoo . com.

Makes all us non-school goers want to pack up a back pack and head to the nearest school house, doesn't it? Crafting for back to school is a blast! Keep in mind that we're STILL having our back to school sale! You can enter code BTS20 for an extra 20% off any order!

Happy crafting!

Some of us are pet people. And if you're one of those people, then have we got some quotes for you. The animal world is a wonderful one, and lasting friendships are often made. So get comfy in your computer chair, and hug your pet a little tighter, because these are sure to fit all your animal-crafting needs.

ANIMALS and PETS

Animals

The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. —Robert Brault

Animals are such agreeable friends, they as no questions, they pass no criticisms. —George Eliot

You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry a person with pets. —Nora Ephron

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. —Martin Buber

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. —Colette

I believe in animal rights, and high among them is the right to the gentle stroke of a human hand. —Robert Brault

Puppies and Dogs

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. —Roger Caras

Money can buy a fine dog....but only love can make him wag his tail.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. —Ben Williams

Dogs are miracles with paws. —attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

Man is a dog's idea of what God should be —Holbrook Jackson

My little dog, a heartbeat at my feet —Edith Wharton

One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why.

Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job. —Franklin P. Jones

Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend. —Corey Ford

Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. —Max Eastman

Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walking in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives. —Sue Murphy

Happiness is a warm puppy. —Charles M. Schulz

If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater...suggest that he wear a tail. —Fran Lebowitz

A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. —Ogden Nash

Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies. —Gene Hill

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. —Andy Rooney

The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother, and they'll settle for a puppy every time. —Winston Pendelton

A dog can express more with his tail in seconds than his owner can express with his tongue in hours.

I love a dog. He does nothing for political purposes. —Will Rogers

The pug is living proof that God has a sense of humor. —Margo Kaufman

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. —Rita Rudner

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.

Kittens and Cats

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.

Cats don't have owners, they have staff.

It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens. —Cynthia E. Varnado

The at is, above all things, a dramatist. —Margaret Benson

If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you cannot learn any other way. —Mark Twain

Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man. —Paul Gray

There is something about the presence of a cat....that seems to take the bite out of being alone. —Louis Camuti

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.

There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat. —Tay Hohoff

If cats could talk, they wouldn't. —Nan Porter

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely? —Karen Brademeyer

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. —James Herriot

Time spent with cats is never wasted. —Sigmund Freud

When my cats aren't happy, I'm not happy. Not because I care about their mood but because I know they're just sitting there thinking up ways to get even. —Percy Bysshe Shelley

The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it. —Doug Larson

As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat. —Ellen Perry Berkeley

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause the most inconvenience. —Pam Brown

There is no more intrepid explorer than a kitten. —Jules Champfleury

Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later. —Mary Bly

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. —Terry Pratchett

Kittens are angels with whiskers.

Birds

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. —Joseph Addison

Have you ever observed a hummingbird moving about in an aerial dance among the flowers, a living prismatic gem...it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all description. —W.H. Hudson

Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best. —Henry Van Dyke

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. —Loire Hartwould

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. —Chinese Proverb

I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven. —Emily Dickinson

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. —Aesop

I know why the caged bird sings —Maya Angelou

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. —William Blake

Horses

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. —Winston Churchill

The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never. —Yiddish Proverb

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. —Winston Churchill

The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears. —Arabian Proverb

To ride a horse is to ride the sky.

I can always tell which is the front end of a horse, but beyond that, my art is not above the ordinary. —Mark Twain

All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he'll listen to me any day.

If the world was truly a rational place, men and women would ride sidesaddle. —Rita Mae Brown

There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses have most of it.

In riding a horse we borrow freedom. —Helen Thomson

Feeling down? Saddle up.

Small children are convinced that ponies deserve to se the inside of a house. —Maya Patel

To me, horses and freedom are synonymous —Veryl Goodnight

Horses lend us the wings we lack.

If you want a stable friendship, get a horse.

Horses—if God made anything more beautiful, he kept it for himself.

He flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions. —Stephen Leacock

Happy crafting!

Who's ready for school?

You remember what it's like. Starting school up for the first time. It's a big deal!! And then with each new year, there's always a sense of excitement over the brand new scene, friends, and teachers. What better way to document new year anticipation and jitters than through a scrapbook page? We've got some lovely ideas. However, first we'd like to show you the back to school contest winners that we announced on Facebook last week. The lucky winners received the Teacher's Pet scrapbook kit from Imaginisce.

Here's an awesome teacher appreciation gift made by winner Jennifer. She filled it with gift cards, post-its, colored pencils, hand sanitizers and lots of other goodies to help the teachers make it through the school year:

And our next winner, Carol, makes a notebook like this for her granddaughter every year. We're loving the Cuttlebug action throughout the whole thing:

We just love getting great submissions from our fans! Be sure to follow our Facebook page because we are continually announcing fun contests, and they always have a great prize that go with them!

Now, on to our great finds. We're pretty sure you'll love these first-day-of-school scrapbooked memories—because we do!

Here's a darling layout we found from Basic Grey:

Another super-cute layout that we really like is from Scenic Route:

And naturally, we wouldn't leave you without a mountain of Cricut ideas—cute looks we found in the Provo Craft idea gallery. This first one uses the Base Camp cartridge:

And this idea is perfect for school days. It uses Makin' Grade and Going Places:

And finally, here's a page using Base Camp, Going Places, and George:

So there ya have it, crafters! May this new school year be a good one for mom, student and teacher!

Pssst!!! Here's a little P.S. for you—but don't tell anyone! Enter code MM20 for 20% off any order! But it's only good for a little while, so get crackin'!