Hi everyone, hope all of your are enjoying your weekend! Today we would like to share with you some great projects the design team created :)

This first layout is created by Gudrun using Saltair

Lady Grace created this fun layout with UPcycle

Natasja created this layout and mini album using Circa 1934

The next few cards are all created by Wendy Sue for which she used UPcycle

This layout is also by Wendy Sue, here she used Togetherness

Laura create a fun masculine card set made with Social Club.  The middle card uses a Gluber in a bit of a different way.  She simply wrappes hemp cord around and around till she had a large circle of it.  Don't you think this is a great way to use Glubers on projects where flowers are just a bit too girly?! 

Happy scrapping!

Happy Friday everyone!

Monday Julie promised two winners, one from our blog, and one from our Facebook Fan Page. 

We have been literally blown away from the response from not only each of you, but also stores from everywhere. Th orders have been crazy crazy.  When you see it in person you will see that it's a must have.

This collection starts shipping next week, just in time for National Scrapbook Day!

Okay, now for our blog winners:

That would be the one and only Dalis who commented April 25, 2011 at 6:14 PM.

Our Facebook Friend :) who's taking home the goods is Jaclyn Kline Torres.

Ladies, since you are the "Odds and Ends" lucky duckies, simply email cathie at cosmocricket dot com a "Woo Hoo" and your home address, and we will make sure that UPS makes a special stop to see you. :)

We appreciate each of you! 

Have a great day and a super fantastic weekend!

Introducing the latest collection from Cosmo Cricket.

Imagine the following paper cut with a circle punch, layered up to make flowers, or cut to make big scalloped borders.

Cut the below paper apart to spell out fancy titles. Or, use the perfectly-sized, framed letters to make monogram pendants like the ones shown here.

If you love collage, this is a must have sheet! Tons of fun elements and spelled out messages that look like they came out of an old book.

These falling roses are so vintage and romantic. LOVE!

No more having to pick between which border to use. We've put them right on the back of a classic blue ticking stripe. All papers are the same cost now!!!

I am a fool for vintage red and white patterns, plus I'm excited to use the frames!

If you love the next paper, give a huge thanks to Mr. Eric. He hand-drew the color fields so that those precious babies weren't just black and white.

We did the same thing with our elements that we did with our borders. No more picking between them and a great pattern on the backside.

For small scale projects like cards and jewelry, you can get all the patterns scaled down to a 6" size in our Mini Deck, plus two bonus patterns.

If you are as in love with this collection as I am, you need to get the Collage Kit for sure! There's two of every paper so that you can use the fronts and backs to your hearts content. There are three color pick sheets featuring the red, blues and green from this line along with plain, antiqued paper. The kit also includes three sticker sheets.... two tiny types (brown and clear) and one very versatile tag and border sheet (see below). But wait, that's not all, there is a surprise pattern on the back of the cover sheet!!!

Last, but not least, here is the sticker sheet Wendy Sue referred to as her favorite from us ever.

So, you can probably tell that I'm super excited about this line. If you are too, you can leave a comment here on our blog to win it. If you go to our facebook page, you can leave a comment there for a second chance. We will pick both our winners Friday morning and they will be announced here, on the blog, in Friday's post.

Good luck everyone!

OOPS: I forgot the winner from Friday. Congratulations Didee who said, "How exciting!!! What makes me happy, well new product releases of course {and my family & rosepetal our dwarf white bunny}!!! Can't wait to see more, you guys rock ?"

This line will be coming your way as soon as it arrives to the wharehouse! Simply send your info to cathie at cosmocricket dot com.

Remember that post in March were you could enter to be published in Scrapbook trends?!! Well today we are doing the same but this time for Cards magazine!

When you created your card make sure to upload it to your blog or online gallery. Post a comment to this post with a link to your card. Make sure to do this by April 30. 

The editors of Cards Magazine will pick a winner who's card will be published in one of their editions!! The winner will be announced here on May 7th.

Good morning everyone! The sun is finally shining in my neck of the woods and Eric has some fabby jazz music playing. The magnolia tree outside my studio window has buds on it and life seems downright wonderful. I hope you are having a great day too. I know the following four of you are!

Amy (badskirt) won our Circa 1934 fabric in green.

Lara Carson won in red.

Ashley Bennett is the winner of the gold set.

See Mary Stamp will get the black.

Congratulations winners! Send your info to cathie at cosmocricket dot com and she'll send you your coveted prize!!!

Now for a bit of teasing.......

Here's what our design team has to say about the preview they saw a couple days ago. This is in regards to the new line, "Odds and Ends" that Lindsay told you all about.

Oh, Lindsay,
This paper makes me very happy! I will be tickled pink to play with it!
Debbie

Wow!! This is amazing! The colors and patterns are so gorgeous, and are, like Wendy said, so perfect for all medias! I feel so honored to be one of the first seeing it! I can tell you it will not be hard at all to put my heart and soul into projects with this collection! I am absolutely in love with the ------ ---- ------ and -------! I can't wait to get started working with these! ~ Amy

This collection is SO very amazingly beautiful.
Love the colors, the patterns.... all of it!! It is so "me" in the -------, yet -------- design.
Thank you Julie and Eric for creating such beautiful products. I can't wait to create with this wonderful papers and stuff.  :) ~ Gudrun

LOVE this!  I can definitely see this being  useful for MANY crafters - beyond scrapbookers and cardmakers...but perfect for us too!!  The colors and designs are lovely.  It looks like this line will compliment some of the other lines perfectly.  The stickers just might be my favorite sticker sheet ever - love the ---- --- ------ and ----- - ------- -------. :o)  Every time you release a new line I feel so lucky to be one of the first to get a peek and then one of the first to create fun projects with it - thank you so much!  I can't wait to create something fun! ~ Wendy

So, here's the scoop.... you could win some of "Odds and Ends" today by telling us what makes you happy. Then come back here on Monday when we sneak peek it for a second chance to win!!!

And, since you all have been so loyal to us even though our blogging hasn't been quite up to par lately. Here is a tiny pre-peek just for you! Enjoy.

Hi Cosmo fans! 

Today we will share with you some great projects created by the design team :)

The first two are by Amy Parker

She just Social Club and UPcycle on the second one

By Debbie Olsen

for both she used UPcylcle

the next two layouts are by Gudrun Loennecken

for the first one she used UPcycle, the second Social Club

A card and a layout by Laura Craigie

for both she used Salt Air

A layout by LG

this is created with UPcycle

Wendy Sue created the next two layouts

she also used UPcycle

the next two are by Yukari Takanashi 

she used Social Club and UPcycle on the second.

The last once are by Natasja Verbeek

she used Social Club and Salt Air on the last

Have a great weekend!
 

So, I'm really, really, really excited to tell you that Circa 1934 will be released in fabric at the May show right here in Salt Lake City, Utah! This will be the first of many lines of fabric to be manufactured and distributed by Moda. Do you know what that means? It's going to get a whole lot easier to find our fabric!!!

If you are Meagan N. and you left us the following comment, "I can't wait for the new lines from Cosmo! I love the Circa 1934 line and my local scrapbooking store is always selling out. I would love to get my hands on some of it. Keep up the amazing work!" Get ready to see some Circa 1934 paper show up. All you have to do is send your info to cathie at cosmocricket dot com.

If  you are not Meagan N., leave a comment today telling us your favorite colorway and we'll pick four winners... one for each set. (I don't actually have the fabric yet, so the winners will get their prize when I do, but we'll let you know who you are tomorrow.)

PS: A special thanks to all our friends at Andover Fabrics in New York. We have loved working with you!

You have to forgive our blogging activity these past few weeks or lack of I should say. Do you ever feel like you're running on the treadmill and someone keeps turning the speed up on it. That's a little how we feel lately.

People ask, "how business is" and we always tell them, "We have a ton of things going on", which were not complaining about. That's a good thing :) One of these days we will have to make you a list to let you know some of the fun things that were doing.

As far as the blog, we had a meeting yesterday and we are committed to try to do better.

We appreciate each of you and how you've been our friends, cheerleaders, and confidant's. You laugh with us , you've been a shoulder to cry on, you have provided wisdom, been patient with my long drawn out stories,  and........ you're all, just so doggone nice!

Eric and Julie are designing new artwork at warp speed. In fact, next Tuesday April 26th to be exact, you will be able to see a very fresh, incredibly well designed collection that has more application not limited to just  scrapbooks and cards. 

I know Julie on Facebook a week or so ago hinted a little about it. I believe it may be her favorite of all time! One of her super powers is to not only design great products but to design product that she thinks you're going to like.

We wish we could tell you more like the color palette, theme, elements involved, the name, etc. But once again I have been threatened with my life and other things if I tell. Sorry, I really am. :(

 Me? The new collection? I love it! I love the possibilities that you will have to create with it. We think that you're going to love it!

Next, leave a comment today, and we will draw a winner in the next couple of days for a Circa 1934 Paper Crafting kit, the 12" x 12" Circa Ready Set Chipboard, a Circa 1934 6" x 6" mini deck, and two tiny type stickers of your choice.

Not bad hey?

Have a great day and we do appreciate you!

Do you all remember this post: We are Women, We can Do This!! Well, with that post in mind, I would like to ask you all where you are in terms of your new year's resolutions. Before you start berating yourself again, here are some tips that I have found very helpful in my own life.

Random Thing #1. Egg Timers make great cleaning incentives!

Place your egg timers in whichever rooms your kids continually leave a mess (I bought 5 of them at the dollar store). Then, make a list of things you wish your kids would do instead of leaving the room messy.

The right placement makes a big difference. Tape your list of jobs right where the kid's smiling faces would be seen as they wash their hands! This way, they cannot miss it.

Our rule is everytime you use a room with an egg timer in it, you spend 5 minutes to clean up.

This has created a super-happy change in our home. Yesterday when Lindsay dropped by our house and asked to use the bathroom, I was not worried that there would be toothpaste in the sink or an empty toilet paper roll waiting for him.

Not just that, but it is teaching all of us, just how little time it takes to clean up after yourself. This has been especially great for kids that can get overwhelmed when asked to clean an entire room.  Now they are finding that after two 5 minute clean ups, they have done just that.

And, the best perk for me..... I feel like the work I do is staying done instead of getting undone faster than I can keep up with. This makes such a huge difference in my mood that it's really amazing!

Try it!!! I think you'll be happy with the results.

Random Thing #2. Money Jars can help you lose weight.

Eric has been on a health kick and has been trying to get me motivated to be healthier. He found his motivation by making a promise to his future, 70 year old self, that he would do everything he could now to be healthy in his older age. Well, that just doesn't motivate me. Afterall, I could get hit by a car tomorrow, so why not enjoy some chocolate now?!?!?

Well, for one thing, I am not happy when I am not taking care of myself. So, where did I find my motivation? I got a great idea listening to a research study on NPR. It seems that people that are financially motivated to exercise and eat right are more motivated. DUH!!! I learned that on my Five Dollar Diet with Lindsay. But, the program went on to explain that if you have to give the money to a cause that you are against, you "are like a billion times" more motivated..... to paraphrase my 11 year old.

So, take out $100 cash all in ones. Put it into a jar labeled with your name on it. Put it next to an empty jar with an organization you don't support. If you're a democrat maybe you pick the republicans or vice versa. If you love PETA, choose the National Association of Cattle Ranchers... you get the idea.

Then make a contract with yourself. If I don't exercise or cheat on my diet I have to take $5 from my jar and put it in the jar to be donated to my despised organization (nope, I'm not telling you what it is). Needless to say, I haven't even been tempted to cheat because there is no way in - - - - I am giving them my money!

I am losing 2-3 pounds/ week.

Random Thing #3. Now that I am feeling in controll of my house and my self, I am happier!

When I am happier, I appreciate things more. Life is more beautiful. I am a better parent, friend and spouse. I feel motivated. I hope you can find your way there!!!

When you do, maybe you can make some super-awesome projects like these from our design team members Gudrun (first two) and Laura (last one) .

The Comstock family and the Moore family each made it home safely from the sunny skies of California this past week. The Comstocks were team number one on "The Cosmo Cricket Amazing Race", and since it was an elimination round, me and my family lost, and the Comstocks received the grand prize of being able to sleep in their own beds first.

 (I tried clicking my heals three times but that didn't quite do it.)

Here's a few great layouts that ended up on our Facebook Fan page this past week that we thought you might like to see.

 
Circa never looked better! Great layout from Dorthy D. Alcantara who resides in the Philippines.

 
And then Susan (sorry I don't know your last name, really I'm sorry), creates a layout once again using Circa that she titles "Dad".

Susan your dad would be proud!

All of our Circa paper is back in stock and we have more of the ready-set-chipboard and mini decks arriving this week.

Almost forgot- The winner of last weeks drawingis Holly Bott.

Hey Holly email cathie at cosmocricket dot com your address and you will soon be Upcycling and Gluberizing! 

Have a great day!

For today's blog post Wendy Sue and Laura swapped some pictures and both created a great layout!

Laura created this layout for Wendy Sue with pictures of Wendy Sue's daughter

and she also created this fun card to go with it

UPcycle is the line she used

Wendy Sue created the next

Laura sent me these two photos of her cute little boys.  I didn't ask her for any background information - I just went with what struck me...the hats...aren't they so cute?!?  I decided to use the new line, Social Club, mostly because it has cute hat images included on the elements sheet and on the chipboard sheet.  If she chooses to do so, there's plenty of room for Laura to add some journaling when she receives the layout. :o)

Wendy Sue used Social Club for her layout



 Happy scrapping and a great weekend to all of you!

Before you file a missing persons report, call out the Search and Rescue, or have our pictures plastered on the side of milk cartons, it's Spring Break in our little valley, and everyone leaves town for warmer weather. Everyone in our neighborhood headed either for Las Vegas or California.

We were no exception.

Julie and Eric and their kiddo's are in Southern California staying with Eric's sister, and storing up the Vitamin D. 

My wife and I, and two of my kids, are in Northern California doing a lot of driving and visiting family. 

I have pictures of the Comstocks that they emailed to me but wasn't sure I was allowed to post. They have final approval, it's late, and I didn't want to ask.

I can tell you that Julie and I somehow live parallel lives. She ended up having to go to the hospital and getting a tetanus shot after kicking a ornamental sun dial. I thought she made it up until she emailed me a picture of not only the sun dial but her in the emergency room. Julie said when she started bleeding it was like a geyser. 

Me? I slipped on rock and landed face first in 5 inches of Salt Water as people on the shore, who I didn't know got a huge chuckle out of it. My wife said she thought they were going to pee their pants. :) I didn't change my clothes, had water and sand in my ears, bruised my leg and my ego, and chaffed later on that day, which I think trumps Julie's emergency.

Why do things always happen when were away from the office?

Okay, no projects today but we thought it would be a great day for a contest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an Upcycle paper crafting kit and you're very own pack of Glubers. These are a hot commodity and were expecting them in very soon.

Have a great day!