The biggest difference between the adjustable pen and adjustable marker holder...

I get asked this question A LOT!  The biggest difference between the Chomas Creations adjustable pen and adjustable marker holder is of course the size.  The adjustable pen holder is 3/8 inch in diameter and the adjustable marker holder is 1/2 inch diameter.  But what does this mean when using gel pens in the adjustable marker holder?  Well you are going to get what they call an offset (meaning the gel pen is NOT centered in the holder).  Now this means that if you want to draw an image, when you go to cut it it isn't going to be centered when you try to cut your shadow.  The adjustable pen holder is very close to center with most gel pens (Chomas Creations mini gel pens, Sakura, Gelly Roll, and more).  So when you go to cut your shadow with these gel pens, it is going to line up right for you.  If you go to put these same sized gel pens into the adjustable marker holder, you will notice you have to tighten the screw quite a bit, making it even further off center. 
Here is a card I made using the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder for the Cricut with a Chomas Creations black mini gel pen (if you own the Expression 2, you can use any length gel pen!)  Notice how the shadow cut around the design very nicely!  If you want to try to make this card with Once Upon A Princess in Cricut Craft Room, I have the file here... birthday party
Oh and notice how far my cupcake pops off the page?  That is an Action Wobble Spring!  How neat is that?  I'm going to make my cards more fun with these hehe! 

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Back to school layout with Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

Back to school is fast approaching, let the countdown begin!  Just 1 week from today I will be sending my kids back and getting a lot more done every day!  lol
I take more pictures then I will ever be able to scrapbook, that is just something I am learning to live with, so these are the kids going back to school 2 years ago!  The year in a new school that we woke up late and I forgot to do anything with my poor son's hair!  lol  But such is life!
I used a white Gelly Roll gel pen in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder to draw the title and white border around the layout.  I used a speed of 5 and a thickness of 4. 
Here is a hint for when you are drawing with your Chomas Creations holder.  Make sure your whole image draws before you unload the mat from the machine.  The "b" in back to school didn't draw the first time around, so I increased my thickness, decreased my speed, and voila, you can now see the "b".  I would have had to start over if I hadn't checked my work first!
The title is from the Silhouette Studio store. 

The journaling oval is one I keep on hand.  I make a bunch of these at a time with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and a gel pen of my choosing.  The file for the journaling oval is a share here... journaling oval

Here is the completed layout.  I added some old chipboard letters I have on hand (use up that stash!) and ribbon as well. 

Want to try drawing with your Silhouette machine??  Use the code august13 to save 10% off your purchase in the Chomas Creations store to get you started!

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Chalkboard look with Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

Ok I do have plans with this project, but I was so excited how these Soufflle gel pens by Sakura show up on the black cardstock and kind of gave that chalkboard feel, that I had to just share!  That and this fun blog called I should be mopping the floor (shouldn't we all?  lol) shared these awesome fonts that would be fun to draw, and even engrave, she calls them chalkboard fonts.  There is a long list (25!) of these chalkboard fonts here... I should be mopping the floor
Here are just 3 of the fonts I chose to try out.  I used the Souffle gel pens in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder in the Cameo to draw these.  This is just normal black cardstock.  Because these gel pens are very juicy, I do slow my speed down to about 3-4 to do this.  And they do take a couple of minutes to dry, so let the project sit on the mat until dry so as not to smear (live and learn!)

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Bee happy card with Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

Looking for a white gel pen that will center in the Chomas Creations adjustable  pen holder, well here you go... The Gelly Roll by Sakura.  I did try it on kraft cardstock and it didn't show up well enough, but it did look good on the black.  So the darker color cardstock does work best.

The slower speed worked better with this gel pen, so I did do this on a 1 speed with a thickness of 5.  As you can see in the picture the gel pen is centered in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder, so that it lined up just right on my edges of my card!  Bee happy is one of Lettering Delights thin fonts.  The bee and flower are a download from the Silhouette Studio store.  The loop de loop around the outside of the card was done with the Studio sketch feature.

Want to try this out for yourself?  Use the coupon code august13 in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your purchase!


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Back to school with Chomas Creations mini Sharpie holder

It is that time of year again!  Time for my favorite commercial... It's the most wonderful time of the year, they're going back... back to school!  Where the dad is dancing down the aisles... hehe  They should really use a mom in that commercial! 

Being I have 4 kids that go to school each year, I get a bit behind on these back to school layouts!  So this is from last year, my daughter on her way to kindergarten.  You can get the Design Studio file for this page here... back to school
I used the Chomas Creations mini Sharpie holder to do the border and accents on this page on cork board.  Yes corkboard!!  There are so many surfaces out there that the mini Sharpies will write on that normal markers just can't handle!  This corkboard is by Quickutz.  They are 4x12 self adhesive sheets.

I used the Chomas Creations mini gel pen holder to make my own lined paper!  I used the file here for the horizontal lines, that I usually use for my journaling circles....  journaling circles  I drew all the lines in the Chomas Creations light blue glitter mini gel pen.

The back to school file has the vertical lines, I used the Chomas Creations red glitter mini gel pen for these.

This also made for some easy journaling on the page!

I designed the title with a shadow and cut it out of red and green paper.  The title is also on the back to school download.

Here is the completed layout!  The ribbon is Imaginesce.  And of course the patterned paper was made by me hehe!

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