Chalkboard Birthday Card

 

I was inspired by chalkboard art on Pinterest to create this birthday card for my sister-in-law, using Cricut’s new Chalkboard Fonts cartridge. When I first saw this cartridge, I didn’t know that much about chalkboard art or how popular it is right now.  Now it is one of my favorite cartridges.

The solid  cardstock on this card is the Recollection brand from Michaels. The patterned paper on the banner was printed on my Imagine using the Blossom and Imagine More Cards cartridges.  The leaves are from a scrap of Graphic 45 paper.

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The card is 5″ x 7″, matted with a white layer.  The black (chalkboard) layer is inked with white on the edges.  I also lightly smudged white ink on the front so it looks like an actual blackboard.  The lettering and swirls are all from the Chalkboard Fonts cartridge, cut from vinyl.

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The banner is from the Birthday Bash cartridge, cut at 1.25″.  For the letters on the banner, I used a Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folder called Monogram Seals.  I inked the letters with black ink.  The banner is hung from the card with DMC Memory Thread.  I added some ribbons and bows and curled the ends of the Memory Thread by wrapping them around a chopstick.

Banner

 The flower is also made with the Cuttlebug, using the Daisy quilling kit.  The petals are light yellow, inked with pink on the edges.  I brushed Glossy Accents on the completed flower and sprinkled it with coarse, clear glitter to add some sparkle.

Flower

 I will make a box for this card, since it is a little bulky to place in an envelope, and send it to my sister-in-law.  I hope she likes it.

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  • Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Chalkboard Fonts, Imagine Blossom and Imagine More Cards
  • Cuttlebug:  Monogram Seals Embossing Plus folder, Daisy quilling kit
  • Vinyl
  • DMC Memory Thread
  • Ink
  • Ribbon

Chalkboard Father’s Day Card

 

This is a quick and fun card I created for Father’s Day using the new Cricut Chalkboard Fonts cartridge.  I was inspired by some chalkboard art that I saw on Pinterest.

The card is a standard A2 size (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″).  On the black cardstock, I inked the edges with white ink.  While doing so, I managed to smear the ink all over myself — and on the front of the cardstock, too.  So I took a sponge and lightly went over the front to make it look like a chalkboard that had recently been erased – which is the look I was going for anyway.

 

Front

The dad is from the Cricut Car Decals cartridge.  I like the way the Chalkboard Font looks with cuts from the decal cartridges.

The font I picked to use on “Father’s” has lots of very small pieces.  Because I knew I would never be able to glue all those small pieces of cardstock to the front of the card, I chose to cut everything from vinyl.  I still had to be very careful when weeding the vinyl to make sure those small pieces stayed in place.

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  • Cricut cartridges — Car Decals, Chalkboard Fonts
  • Vinyl
  • Ink

Circleville NSD 2013: It’s All About Perspective Challenge and E-I-E-I-O Challenge

 

On this project, I combined challenges.  I was making a card for the E-I-E-I-O challenge, hosted by Jenny.  She wanted us to make a project using a barnyard animal.  When I took a close look at the cut pieces, a light bulb went off — I thought this would also be a good project to do for Nadia’s challenge.  She has an excellent tutorial on how to add perspective to flat die cuts.  Be sure and check it out on Nadia’s blog.  Her challenge is to make a project using some of the techniques she shows in her tutorial.

So, I would like to present to you the premiere of………………

EXTREME MAKEOVER:  FDC EDITION

A flat die cut (FDC) is just that — flat.  This case presented itself when it landed on my desk after coming off the Cricut mat.  I looked at it and said to myself “this cut could definitely benefit from Nadia’s ideas.”  Something I really enjoyed in Nadia’s tutorial was her before and after photos.  So I took a photo of my die cut (from the County Fair cartridge), without any enhancement, as it went together after coming off the mat.

Before

It’s cute, but it could be so much more.  I began with the fence, which was cut at 2.25″.  I added some grass to it by welding the shapes in Cricut Craft Room.  The grass is also from County Fair, cut at 3″.  I cut several of the same fence shapes so I could cut them apart and use only the pieces I wanted.

FencePieces

 I took extras of the upright pieces and inked them.  Two of them, the second from the left and the far right, I inked darker because I wanted them to look like they are farther away.  I adhered them to the fence.

Then I began working on the cross pieces.  I inked the edges and ran them through the Cuttlebug using the Distress Stripes folder.  Because the paper was not real thick, I doubled the layers on these boards.  I then began attaching them to the fence.  I glued one end with liquid glue and put a piece of foam on the opposite end.  Where the boards attached to the uprights that were farther away, I adhered that edge with the liquid glue.  Where the boards are supposed to be closer to the viewer, I attached that end with the foam.  I ended up with sort of a zigzag effect.  When I finished gluing the boards on,  I inked the edges of the grass and adhered the pieces to the fence.

Fence

Next up was the little chick.  

PlainChic

He is cute as is, but this little guy wanted some major work done.  I began with several layers, as I knew I would be doing some nipping and tucking.  He was very happy when he started getting inked.  I cut a separate head from one of the layers and inked it.

He wanted a  beak job done, but I recommended a little tuck instead.  I creased his beak in the middle and folded it. Then I adhered it to his face  and he ended up with some nice dimension.

The comb (his topknot) was next.  I cut two slightly larger than the original piece and cut those into separate sections.  I then adhered the three layers of the comb.  This was a microscopic procedure, done under my lighted magnifying glass because the pieces were so small.

Now we came to what was perhaps the chick’s biggest issue — his wings.  In the original cut, he has no wings.  Just sort of an outline of wings.  This little guy had more than wing envy, he had a wing obsession.  He wanted me to do wing transplants, but in my opinion that would be too drastic.  Without ruffling his feathers, I explained that wing transplants aren’t what they’re cracked up to be.  I thought wing extensions would be a better solution, especially since the little guy is still a spring chicken.

I found some feathers from Paper Doll Dress Up and cut several of those.  I inked the edges and then attached them to the chick, gluing only the top of each feather.  The only procedure left to perform was attaching his new head.  I glued the head even at the top and popped up the chin area (do chickens have chins?) with a pop dot.

As for his new look, the chick is very pleased.  In fact, he happier than a rooster in a hen house.  So let’s pull those curtains back and take a look at the results………..

Chick

I photographed the chick alongside a ruler so you can see his size.  Altering small cuts and have a big effect.  He ended up being about three layers thick.  Here’s a before and after photo of the entire cut piece.

BeforeAfter2

Since the chick now has something to crow about, I decided to use that as the sentiment on my card.  Nadia explained in her tutorial about atmospheric perspective and how you can lose the effect you create in altering your cut by putting it on a background with a lot of detail.  I decided to go with a plain background.  I thought about embossing the background but decided I didn’t want that distracting from my fence and chick.  I used a pale blue and inked the edges.

Front

The sentiment is from Just Because Cards, cut at 5″.  The sun is from Pooh and Friends, cut at 1.5″ inches.  For the sun, I used another of Nadia’s ideas.  The orange layer was very bright and I thought it was distracting.  It seemed to draw my eye to that corner.  So I cut a piece of vellum and adhered it over the orange.  Although the orange still looks bright in the picture, it is actually more subdued.

Sun

I had a lot of fun with this project and I guess I should apologize for all the chicken puns.  Thank you, Jenny, for your fun challenge!

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  • Cricut cartridges — County Fair, Just Because Cards, Paper Doll Dress Up, Pooh and Friends
  • Ink
  • Foam dots
  • Vellum

Circleville 2013 NSD – Oh The Places You’ll Go! Challenge

 

 

I just completed my second project for Circleville’s NSD Challenges.  This one is hosted by Marty (Eyelet on the message board) and she gave us a sketch to follow.  I made a card.

I used my Imagine again, printing the papers from the Floral Emporium cartridge.  It was my first time using this cartridge — it has some really pretty patterns on it.  I printed both the patterned and solid paper.

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Here is the sketch:

card sketch.jpg

The blue flap (don’t know what else to call it) is from Elegant Edges <Eyelt1-s>.  I stretched it some in each direction in CCR to get it to the size of the card.  I then copied that shape and stretched it a bit more to get a shadow.  The circle of flowers is from Paper Trimmings <Flower8><Circle>, cut at 3″.  The sentiment is from Sentimentals <Letter2><Layer>, cut at 2.5″. Because the letters are so thin and small, I cut them from white vinyl.

The band on the card is two strips of cardstock, one 1″ wide, the other 1.25″ wide.  I used an EK Success border punch on them, Deco Scallops.

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  • Cricut cartridges — Elegant Edges, Floral Emporium (Imagine), Paper Trimmings, Sentimentals
  • EK Success Deco Scallops border punch
  • White vinyl

Circleville NSD 2013: Go Big Or Go Home! Challenge

 

I made this card for one of  Circleville’s NSD Challenges.  The Go Big Or Go Home Challenge was created by Sara.  She challenged us to create a layout or card  using an oversized photo or title.

I made a card, since I needed one for my younger brother’s birthday today — he turned 64.  He recently bought a wood lathe and has been having a blast making some beautiful wood projects, so I wanted to use a wood theme for his card.  I pulled out my Imagine Snapshot: Nature cartridge and printed a bark pattern for the background and a lighter wood grain pattern for the letters.

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The card itself is made from kraft paper.  Happy Birthday is from Something to Celebrate and is cut at 3.5″.  I inked and chalked all the pieces before gluing them together.  This card is simple, but I really like how it turned out.  I put some money inside so my brother can go to the wood store and get something he wants.

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  • Cricut cartridges – Snapshot: Nature (Imagine), Something to Celebrate
  • Chalk
  • Ink
  • Stickles

Cricut Circle Weekend Challenge Card

 

This is a quick card I did for a weekend challenge on the Cricut Circle message board.  Di challenged us to create a project using several tones of the same color.

I decided to go the easy route and went to my Imagine library for my papers, since it would have taken me hours to dig through my paper collection trying to decide what I wanted to use.  I used the Hey Diddle Diddle cartridge and printed out several different pink prints.

Front

The sentiment was cut from the Lacy Labels Lite cartridge at 2″.  The white letters at that size are very intricate, so I cut that layer from white vinyl.  I like using vinyl for intricate cuts because it is like making a sticker – I don’t have to apply any glue to the cut.  At that small a size, I would smear glue all over.  I do take a little stickiness off the transfer tape by sticking it a couple of times to a piece of cloth before applying it to the vinyl.  That way it doesn’t stick too tightly to my paper piece when I apply the vinyl.

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I added some ribbon to two of the layers and then a bow to the top layer.  I also put three small pearls in the upper left corner.

The inside is another piece of the pink print paper with a white piece on top for writing.

Inside

  • Cricut cartridges used:  Hey Diddle Diddle Imagine and Lacy Labels lite
  • American Craft cardstock
  • White vinyl
  • Pearls
  • Ribbon

Cute Bee Card Created in Cricut Craft Room

 

I spent most of this weekend creating this card in Cricut Craft Room.  I found a cute paper piecing card from Treasure Box Designs and fell in love with it.  When I saw the card, I wondered if I could create it in Cricut Craft Room.  I thought the cute bee on the Create a Critter cartridge would be perfect for it.

When a challenge was posted on the Cricut Circle message board to create a project in conjunction with Circle Mania that was going on in Atlanta, I decided to get cutting.  I was so happy that my design for the base of the card worked the first time I cut it.  I’m not sure how to describe this card, maybe a gate-fold card with a pocket for a tag in the back.

Card

Open

I cut the card base from kraft cardstock.  This is what the piece looked like after cutting and scoring.  And maybe you can see why it took me so long to design this card — I was doing a lot of figuring!  I used George and Basic Shapes and Cricut Craft Room Basics to design the card base.

ScoredPiece

 After scoring, the first step was folding the edges of the pocket towards the center.

FoldPocket

 I printed all the patterned paper for this card on my Imagine.  I love that I can print the exact paper that I want when creating a project.  I used three cartridges for the paper, Bubble Gum Stripes for the gold circles, Blast Off for the green checks, and Hopscotch for the gold print on the tag.

I adhered the piece over the pocket, being careful to not glue the bottom.  I applied glue to the top and side edges only.

GluePaperPocket

Next I folded the bottom piece up towards the top.  I glued the center section of the bottom piece and attached it to the pocket.  Again, I only glued three sides — the top and two sides.  I did not glue the bottom.

FoldUpBottom

The next step was attaching the patterned paper to the panels on the card.  I cut two of the gold circles for the very front pieces and four of the green checked paper.  I attached a white piece of paper to the center panel.  It then looked like this.

GluePaperFront

I adhered two green checked pieces to the back of the panels, as they show on the front when the card is folded.  This is a view of the back of the card, showing the two panels.

GluePaperBackSide

And here is what it looks like from the front, with the panels folded up.

GluePaperNoTag

The tag was cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More.  The dimensions of the tag are roughly 3 3/8″ x 5 3/8″.  I adhered the white panel to the tag.  I also cut a piece of green checked paper for the top and rounded the upper corners with a punch.  I adhered that to the white panel on the tag, so the white didn’t show when the tag is in the pocket.

Tag

The fence posts are also from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More.  They are the pointed tag, just made skinny and with the hole hidden.  I cut four of the posts, with two of them being slightly taller.  Those I adhered to the center front of the card.  I ran the fence posts through the Cuttlebug using the Distressed Stripes folder before gluing them down.

GlueFence2

Next, I assembled the bee, flowers and letters.  The flowers were cut at 1″ using Flower Shoppe, using two layers for each flower.  I inked the edges and curled up the petals on the top layers.  I ran some twine through buttons and glued them to the center of the flowers.

The bee was cut at 4″ using Create a Critter.  I hid the facial features and used an oval that I made using Cricut Craft Room Basics (I squashed a circle until I got the shape I wanted) for his nose.  For his eyes, I printed out a free cut file I got at The Beary Scrap.  I don’t quite feel confident enough to try and paint my own eyes.  I did think about adding eyelashes but decided not to because I cut the bee’s face from textured cardstock.  I know my pen marks would have been all over heck and I would not have been happy.

The lettering was done using Craft Room Basics and Mickey Font.

BeeFlowers

All that was left was to adhere these pieces to the card.  I attached the bee first.   After he was adhered to the card, I glued the sentiment on and then the flowers.  My card looked like this.

GluingFlowers

To keep the front of the card closed, I tied a ribbon around it.

Card2

I’ll add a few more pictures, showing the card open and the tag part way out.  I am very happy with how it turned out — made me feel all the work was worth it.  I will cut this card base again — I can picture many uses for it.  And I will also make the bee again, but with a different sentiment.  My mom is no longer living and this is the first Mother’s Day card I have made since she passed away.  I will probably give it to a friend or relative.

GluingInside

TagPartOut

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  • Cricut Craft Room
  • Cricut cartridges used:  Cricut Craft Room Basics, George and Basic Shapes, Create a Critter, Flower Shoppe, Mickey Font, Tags, Bags, Boxes & More
  • Cricut Imagine cartridges used:  Blast Off, Bubblegum Stripes, Hopscotch
  • Cuttlebug — Distressed Stripes folder
  • Ink
  • Chalk
  • Buttons
  • Ribbon

I’m going to add one last phot photo, which is a screen shot of my CCR file, to show what shapes I used to create the card base.  I hope this will help others wanting to re-create it.

ScreenShot

Welcome Spring — Cricut Campin’ Critters

This little card is for the Spring is in the Air weekly challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2.   The seasons may be more subtle here in California than in other states, but I always look forward to spring.  I love seeing all the birds and listening as they fill the air with chirping.  Right now we have mockingbirds building nests in the trees outside our kitchen door.   And yesterday I watched a hummingbird in our orange tree as I sat at the dining table.

My card is whimsical — a little fox doing some bird watching on a beautiful spring day.  I printed the papers using my Imagine and the Nursery Tails cartridge.  I love that you can print to fit whatever you are making, as in the background.  I printed this at 5″.

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I made the  “welcome spring” sentiment for the card using Photoshop.  I took the text and put it on an arc.  I printed it out on a piece of plain paper and put the background piece over top.  I held both up to a light so I could see where the sentiment was going to be and when I got it where I wanted it, I held it in place with a few pieces of the blue painter’s tape.  I just lightly pressed the tape down — I didn’t want it sticking too much and removing any of the color.  Then I ran both pieces through the printer.

The fox is from Campin’ Critters and cut at 2.5″.  I used chalk to give his body some definition and used pop-dots to attach him to the front.  I added Glossy Accents to the lenses in his binoculars.

Fox2

I cut an extra bird and layered it on the front.  For the inside I added another bird and a frog, also from Nursery Tails.

Inside

I hope you enjoy my spring card.

  • Cricut cartridges – Campin’ Critters, Imagine Nursery Tails
  • White cardstock – American Crafts
  • Chalk
  • Ranger Glossy Accents

Spooky Halloween Pumpkin Card

 

This is a Halloween card I made for a couple of challenges.  The first one is Cooking With Cricut, and their challenge is to make a project using a pumpkin and circles or dots.  The second one is Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog, and their challenge is to make a Halloween project using the colors black and orange.

My card fits in a #10 business envelope — it’s approximately 9″ x 4″. The pattern paper is from a DCWV stack from a year or so ago.  I laid the design out in Cricut Craft Room and used my Expression to cut everything.

I used the Happy Hauntings cartridge for the sentiment and cut it at 1.75″.   The pumpkin is from Autumn Celebrations, cut at 2″.  The bats are from Holiday Cakes and were cut on shadow feature at 1″.  I bent their wings up and glued down just the bodies.

And here is the inside of the card.

The little bear posing with my card is my newest Disney Duffy Bear, the Halloween 2012 bear.  He is so cute with his little treat bag that is shaped like a Duffy bear.

  • Cricut Craft Room
  • Cricut cartridges:  Autumn Celebrations, Happy Hauntings, Holiday Cakes
  • DCWV holiday stack

Happy Thanksgiving Pumpkin Card

 

I made this card for the latest challenge at Cooking With Cricut.  The challenge was to make a Thanksgiving card for the I Feel the Love Project (IFTL).  Each month they select a different person, organization or group to receive handmade projects.  This month the cards are going to Surrey Place Care Center, a 60-bed skilled nursing facility.

I am getting my card in just under the wire.  In fact, I had better go link my card before time runs out.  Well, I got my card linked to Cooking With Cricut’s page, but for some reason the photo is not showing up.

I made my card in Cricut Craft Room.  I used the pumpkin card feature on Autumn Celebrations, cutting it at 5.75″. The solid color cardstock is from Core’dinations.  The patterned papers are from a paper pad I picked up at Joann’s called Cocoa Mint by Cloud 9 Design.

The leaves are cut at 3″ using two shades of green.  The sentiment is from the Thanksgiving cartridge and is cut at 1.35″.  I used orange vinyl for the sentiment .  I like using vinyl for smaller, more intricate cuts because it cuts so well and you don’t have to put adhesive on it.

The flower was made using my Cuttlebug and the Daisy quilling kit.  It is my first flower made using this kit and I am happy with the result.  I inked the edges of the petals before rolling them up.  I used some Glossy Accents and Martha Stewart crystal glitter on the flower petals.  I attached the leaves to the card using pop dots.

 The inside of the card is simple, mainly because I ran out of time.

Here is another picture where I was able to lighten it up and kill some of the glare so you can see the sentiment better.  I didn’t realize the first pic was so dark.

  • Cricut Craft Room
  • Cricut cartridges:  Autumn Celebrations, Thanksgiving
  • Cuttlebug Daisy quilling kit
  • Core’dinations cardstock
  • Orange vinyl
  • Glitter – crystal