Graduation Card — You Rock!!

A friend’s daughter graduated from middle school a few days ago.  I wanted to make her a card that was not the average grad card — I wanted something a little funky and feminine.  I know she enjoys music, and just to prove how old I am, I have never heard of the groups she likes!

I decided to go with the phrase, “You Rock.”  I found the phrase on the Cricut Phrases cartridge and liked the bold design.  However, this particular phrase came with a lightning bolt at the end of it.  So to make it more feminine, I welded a rose from the Indie Art cartridge over top of the lightning bolt.  I also decided to make this a shaped card.

The fun part of this card was printing and cutting the layers on my Imagine.  I used the Floral Emporium cartridge for the prints and solid colors (excluding the black cardstock).  I love the bright colors and fun prints on this cartridge.  I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the bright pink print paper on the phrase and rose.  The grad hat was cut from Everyday Pop-Up cartridge.

I used pop dots on the grad hat, rose and the “you” on the phrase to add depth.

For the inside of the card, I printed and cut a greeting from the Imagine cartridge, Greeting Cards Inside & Out.

When I was laying out the card in Design Studio, I was trying to keep the dimensions so the card would fit into a #10 envelope.  However, this is a big card and ended up being about an 1″ too large either way, so I made a custom envelope for it.  Luckily the card was hand delivered so I didn’t have to worry about postage.

As I was working on this card, Bitten by the Bug 2 announced their latest challenge — the Rose Challenge.  I was so happy because I would be able to enter this card in the challenge.

  • Cricut Cartridges:  Everyday Pop-Up, Imagine Floral Emporium, Imagine Greeting Cards Inside & Out, Indie Art, Phrases
  • Cuttlebug

Surf’s Up Card Using Cricut Paper Pups Cartridge

 

This is a card I made to enter in Bitten by the Bug 2‘s Water Theme Challenge.  The Design Team made some fantastic projects that provided lots of inspiration.  Donna, a member of the Design Team, makes wonderful shaped front cards and I have always wanted to try making one myself.  When I saw her card for this challenge, I decided it was time to give it a try.

The patterned paper is from a me & my Big ideas paper pad that I picked up at their warehouse sale a few years ago.  What a fun day that was — Erin & I brought home a car load of goodies! The solid cardstock is from Bazzill.

Besides not knowing what I was doing, all the welding proved challenging.  I laid out lots of shapes in Design Studio and welded them together.  For the card front, I welded a rectangle from George and Basic Shapes cartridge with waves from Life is a Beach, a sun from Mickey & Friends, letters to spell “Surf’s Up” from Mickey Font, and finally the little dog with the duck floaty from Paper Pups.  All these shapes I then welded to a larger rectangle to form the back of the card.

I cut out lots of layers, did some inking, and then applied them using lots of pop dots.  My card doesn’t have the depth that Donna’s cards have, but I am happy with my first try.

I added a piece of pattern paper to the inside, but I have to figure out where I will write a message.  The paper I used is flocked, so it is bumpy and will not be good for writing.  I liked the paper, though, because it reminds me of air bubbles.

  • Cricut Cartridges:  George & Basic Shapes, Life is a Beach, Mickey & Friends, Mickey Font, Paper Pups
  • Cardstock:  Bazzill, me and my Big ideas

Strawberry Teapot Card — My First Easel Card

 

I made this card for the Kitchen Challenge over at Bitten by the Bug 2. Your project must be based on something you would find in a kitchen and have a Cricut cut on it.  I started out with all sorts of ideas but narrowed it down to a teapot.  I was laying out my design in Cricut Design Studio and thought it was looking pretty good.  I decided to try making an easel card, going for a floral, frilly teapot.

Then, a couple of nights ago I was checking out one of my favorite embroidery websites, EmbLibrary.com, and happened upon a strawberry teapot.  I kept looking at it and wondered if I could make something similar using my Cricut.  So I started playing around in Design Studio and ended up with this card.

I used Core’dinations solid cardstock for the base of the card.  All the dotted printed paper I did on my Imagine, using The Good Old Days cartridge.  I am really having fun using my Imagine.

The teapot I used is from Kate’s ABCs cartridge and I welded a strawberry from Preserves over top of the teapot, so just the spout and handle were sticking out beyond the strawberry.  I then welded an oval from George & Basic Shapes onto the bottom of the teapot, to form the base of my easel card.  Here is a side view of the card, so you can see how it stands up.

I cut a scalloped oval and doily shape from Lacy Labels to go on my base.  Through the holes of the doily shape, I threaded seam binding that I dyed using Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  Where my seam binding met, I tied a bow.  Here is a close-up of the base so you can see how I threaded the binding, and also how the three small flowers allow the card to stand up.  I used Liquid Pearls to add some dots on the doily.

I also used seam binding to tie a bow around the handle of the teapot.  I used Glossy Accents and Martha Stewart coarse glitter to add some sparkle to the flowers.

I made the tag using my Imagine and the Imagine More cartridge.  I am very happy with how it came out — it is my first cut and print piece that I have used on a project.  I changed the color on one of the layers and left off the sentiment that was on this particular tag.  I then took a Studio G stamp and stamped Happy B-Day on the front and tied it up with some twine.

And here is a picture to show you what the card looks like when it is flat.

When I finished my card, I thought it would be nice if I embroidered some tea towels using the strawberry embroidery design that inspired my creation.  I found a couple of blank striped towels that I thought the design would look OK on and proceeded to stitch them out.  So now I have a nice gift set to give to someone.

And, finally, I want to thank the wonderfully talented Design Team at Bitten by the Bug 2 for the prize that I won in the frame challenge.  My number was picked to receive the Smash Book prize — and I am so excited!  Thank you everyone at Bitten by the Bug 2.

  • Cricut cartridges:  George & Basic Shapes, Kate’s ABCs, Lacy Labels (Lite), Preserves
  • Imagine cartridges:  Imagine More, The Good Old Days
  • Core’dinations cardstock
  • Martha Stewart coarse glitter
  • Glossy Accents
  • Rayon seam binding
  • Liquid Pearls

Elms Bakery Truck Birthday Card

 

I made this card for the Bakery Challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2.  This is a theme challenge and you have to create a project using something you would find in a bakery.

My inspiration will definitely give away my age, but the bakery theme brought back childhood memories of when the Helms Bakery trucks used to come to neighborhoods in So. California in the 1950’s.  I remember my mom putting the blue Helms placard in the corner of the picture window in our living room.  That told the driver to stop at our house.  The Helms motto was “Daily at Your Door.”

The truck was just like having a bakery parked in front of your house.  The driver would pull out drawers filled with baked goodies — so yummy.  The Helms truck delivered the bread that my brothers and I grew up on.

For my bakery truck, since it delivers to whimsical woodland creatures, I changed the name to Elms Bakery.  I created a shaped card using the milk truck from the Cricut cartridge, Pop-Up Neighborhood.  I tried to keep the colors true to the original Helms trucks.  My cardstock is a mix of both Bazzill and Core’dinations.

For the base of the card, I welded the squirrel from the Birthday Bash cartridge to the truck in Design Studio.  I made the card so it will just squeeze into a #10 envelope.  The lettering on the side of the truck is done in vinyl and the font is from Noah’s ABC Animals cartridge.  I cut the lettering twice, in two colors, so it looks like it has a shadow layer.

For the squirrel, I decided to put a beanie cap on his little head.  I used Baby Steps cartridge to cut the cap portion. To make the propeller on top, I used a number “8” and deleted the inside cuts in Design Studio.  Then I took the sizing handles and squished the “8” close together.  The little post that the propeller attaches to is a small rectangle from George & Basic Shapes.

I cut the cupcake from Birthday Bash and placed it in the squirrels arms.  I used red Stickles on the cherry.

I decided to make this a birthday card, so I cut a sentiment from Birthday Bash to put inside.  I also stamped another sentiment on the opposite side.

  • Cricut Cartridges:  Baby Steps, Birthday Bash, George & Basic Shapes, Noah’s ABC Animals, Pop-Up Neighborhood
  • Cardstock:  Bazzill, Core’dinations
  • Vinyl
  • Stickles

Cricut Circle National Scrapbook Day Crop Color Challenge: Beach Pail Gift Card Holder

 

To celebrate National Scrapbooking Day ( May 5), the Cricut Circle blog hosted a two-day online event.  There were challenges, tutorials, games, question-and-answers sessions — all kinds of fun.   Unfortunately I was not able to “attend” much of the live portion, but I did manage to make a project for one of the challenges.

When the Circle blog event was posted, I had just finished making eight beach pail gift card holders for a Kelly doll convention (Kelly is Barbie’s younger sister).  So I decided to make another one for the Color Challenge.  The challenge was to create a project using the color inspiration that they provided, which is shown below.  You had to use at least two Cricut image cuts on your project.

This is the picture the Circle blog provided for the color inspiration:

I made this card so that the sand section pulls out of the pail, similar to the flower pot cards where the flowers pull out.  I laid out the entire design in Design Studio.  I used Life is a Beach cartridge for the pail and shovel.  I glued around the outside edges only, leaving the oval section at the top open so the pocket holding the gift card would slide in.  I welded a rectangle from George & Basic Shapes to the sand to form the holder.

All the solid cardstock is from Bazzill and the printed pattern paper is from Graphic 45’s Tropical Travelogue collection — such beautiful paper!  I made the trim on the rim of the bucket using the patterned paper and cut the handle from a darker shade of cardstock.  The sand is cut from some glittered cardstock I bought at my local Joann’s.

Here is a picture showing the sand pulled out of the pail — holding the gift card.

And another picture, showing  a close up of the gift card holder.

I decided to add a small tag to the card, so there would be a place for some writing.  I welded two shell shapes from Picturesque together to form the tag.  The top detail piece on the shell is cut from a piece of off-white glitter cardstock.  The shell flips open and there is a space on the top and bottom for some writing.

  • Cricut Cartridges:  Life is a Beach, Picturesque, George & Basic Shapes
  • Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue paper
  • Bazzill solid color cardstock
  • Glitter cardstock

 

Father’s Day Card From The Smoochy Poochy

 

I decided to make my dear hubby a Father’s Day card from our dog.  Her name is Fifi and she is a rescue dog — part Pomeranian and part Chihuahua.  She is such a daddy’s girl that I figured he would enjoy it.

I call her our Smoochy Poochy because she loves to give kisses.  She also loves toys — her favorites are the fake fur bones with squeakers inside.  She has an assortment of them in all different types of prints — from giraffe to leopard prints. 

I made this card to enter into two challenges.  The weekly challenge at the Cricut Circle Blog is a sketch challenge, so I followed that for the layout of my card. 

The latest challenge at Cooking With Cricut is a Father’s Day related project that includes a Cricut cut.  I used several Cricut cuts on this card.

I couldn’t find a dog that looked like Fifi, so I opted for this cutie on the Paper Pups cartridge.  I chose this one because the dog is on its back and Fifi has a tendency to go “belly up” while she is sleeping.  The dog is lying on an envelope that she has so thoughtfully placed one of her squeaky bones inside for Dad.  The ribbon and bones are from Paper Pups also.

I used Doodlecharms for the envelope, Beyond Birthdays for “Dad” and Sans Serif for “#1”. 

The solid cardstock is Bazzill and the printed paper is all from Basic Grey — their Lauderdale collection.

For the inside of the card, I used Paisley for the “xoxo” and Simply Charmed for the “Happy Father’s Day” sentiment.  I added another bone inside.

  • Cricut cartridges used:  Beyond Birthdays, Doodlecharms, Paisley, Paper Pups, Sans Serif, Simply Charmed
  • Bazzill cardstock
  • Basic Grey — Lauderdale collection

Ice Cream Shop Card for Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge

 

Weekly Challenge #33 over at the Cricut Circle Blog is called the Sweet Summertime Challenge.  You have to incorporate the shape of your favorite summertime treat and use a stamp somewhere on your project.

My summertime treat is easy — it’s the same treat I love all year long — ice cream!!  That being said, I knew right away what my card was going to have on it.  But I decided that I would not only include an ice cream cone but also the ice cream shop.

The lastest exclusive cartridge for Cricut Circle members is Pop-Up Neighborhood.  I was looking through the handbook and really liked some of the buildings.  While I didn’t use the pop-up feature on this card, I did take the bakery and turned it into an ice cream shop.

In Design Studio, I laid out two of the bakery shadow shapes and welded them together at the top.   I remembered the cute little hippo from Birthday Bash, who is blissfully running with her ice cream cone, and knew I wanted her on my card too.  So I laid out the hippo shape onto my base and welded that also.

I cut the shapes from the Sweet Stack by Die Cuts With A View.  The solid color cardstock is from Bazzill.  I used just the two cartridges — Birthday Bash and Pop-Up Neighborhood.   Oops, I just remembered a third cartridge that I used — the Lite cartridge Twinkle Toes.  I cut the banner for the shop name from it.

For the windows on my ice cream shop, I used graphics from Provo Craft — from their pccrafter.com site.  I thought they were perfect with my design.  I used a stamp to do the name of the shop.  I found a clear stamp in a set that I bought from K & Company that said “The Scoop” and when I saw it I knew that would be the name.

I used the Cuttlebug on the front door, the Distressed Stripes folder, and also on the ice cream cone, the Mesh Texture folder.  I needed something with a small pattern because the ice cream cone on the front of the card is quite small and this folder was great.  It gives the look of a waffle cone.  I used coarse glitter on the ice cream itself and red Stickles for the cherry on top.

Front3

This is a happy and fun creation and when I look at my card I can’t help but think of a book Erin had as a child.  It was called Yummers! and featured Miss Emily (a pig) and Eugene (a turtle).  When I look at the pink hippo, she just looks like she is running along thinking, yummers!!

The patterned paper on the inside of the card is from daisyd’s.  I made another ice cream cone, this time a little larger, to adhere to a corner.

  • Cricut Design Studio
  • Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Pop-Up Neighborhood, Twinkle Toes
  • Cuttlebug folders:  Distressed Stripes and Mesh Texture
  • DCWV — Sweet Stack
  • Bazzill solid cardstock
  • Coarse glitter
  • Red Stickles

Vintage Birthday Card for Cricut Circle Blog’s Monthly Challenge

 

Here I am, getting another project submitted with just a few hours to spare.  I guess I work better with deadlines closing in on me, although I do not care for the stress.  But who can I blame for procrastinating?  Yep, no one but me!

I decided to make a birthday card for my niece and this is my first time trying to make something that looks vintage.  I love the look of vintage but didn’t know how well I would do trying to create it.  I am happy with how it turned out, especially for a first try.

The paper I chose is the reason I went for the vintage look.  I picked up a pad of paper by Bo Bunny when I was shopping last week.  It is the Gabrielle Collection and there are some beautiful designs in it. 

The monthly challenge for May at the Cricut Circle is the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  The object is to pick three prompts in a row from a tic tac toe grid and to include at least two Cricut cuts.

I chose a diagnoal row, going from the bottom left to the right top — which consisted of:  use a cut of a flower shape, use a ruffle, and use some buttons.

Because the paper is so pretty, I decided to use a frame around one of the designs.  I cut the frame from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge.  I made my ruffle from a piece of seam binding and laid down a piece of lace on the paper before adding the ruffle.  The pearls on the ruffle are actually white buttons that I colored with my Copics.  I cut the shanks off the button before gluing them on the ruffle.

The flowers were the most time-consuming part of my card.  I cut them out of plain off-white cardstock using my Accent Essentials cartridge.  I inked all the edges and then formed the cuts into roses.  I sprayed them with Glimmer Mist — sure wish the sparkle showed up in the pictures. 

I cut the leaves from the same off-white cardstock using the Picturesque cartridge, inked them green and then ran them through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder.  The butterfly is from the Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art cartridge.  I found a button in my stash that matched the butterfly beautifully.  I added some Memory Thread to the button and glued it on the body of the butterfly.  On the lacy layer of the butterfly, I added some sparkle using Glossy Accents and Diamond Dust.  I also used Distress Stickles on its body.

I cut some tickets using Wall Decor & More and inked them a light coral color.  I cut the tickets at 2″ and they fit the stamp set perfectly.  I then stamped them with a stamp set from Autumn Leaves called Ticketed. 

The inside of the card features a different piece of the Bo Bunny paper and another ticket.

I used lots of foam dots on this card.  Here is a photo showing a side view so you can get an idea of the dimension that this card has.

Since I can’t put this card into a normal envelope, I made a box to hold it.  But I need to take a picture of the box.  I will post the picture once I take it. 

I’m back with some pics of the box.  I ended up adding my niece’s name to the top of the box, which I cut from Storybook.

 

  • Bo Bunny – Gabrielle Collection
  • Cricut cartridges used:  Accent Essentials, Elegant Edges, Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art, Picturesque, Wall Decor & More
  • Cuttlebug folder – Swiss Dots
  • Glimmer Mist
  • Seam binding
  • Stickles
  • Autumn Leaves stamps – Ticketed
  • DMC Memory Thread
  • Glossy Accents
  • Diamond Dust
  • Buttons from stash

Duffy the Disney Bear Celebrates Cinco de Mayo Layout

Whoo hoo — I’m back with my second layout.  I haven’t posted in quite some time, but I am so excited because my first layout won in the Provocraft contest that was held in conjunction with the launch of the new Cricut Expression E2.  I was the next-to-the-last winner announced on Provo’s Facebook page and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my layout pictured on their wall.

This is my first “major award”  — and what did I win?……A new Cricut Expression E2 — whoooo hoooo.  It has already arrived and I hope to start playing with it soon.  Thank you so much Provo Craft!!

I created this layout to enter in the latest Cricut Circle Blog weekly challenge, which ends in just a few hours.  This is a sketch challenge and you have to follow the sketch posted on the blog.  It always takes me time to come up with inspiration, particularly when doing layouts.  Hopefully as I gain more experience the ideas will come more quickly. Now for a little background info about this layout.  Erin (my daughter and co-conspirator on this blog) is currently living in Taiwain and is a huge Disney fan.   She has visited all five parks many times.  She got bit by the Duffy Bear bug while on a visit to Tokyo Disneyland.  Duffy is Mickey Mouse’s teddy bear, sewn by Minnie Mouse to keep Mickey company while traveling.  Notice his face is shaped like Mickey’s head.  While Duffy was exclusive to Tokyo Sea, he is now being featured at Disney World, Disney California Adventure, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Erin brought me a Duffy and Shellie May (the girl version, and still only available at Tokyo Sea) on one of her visit’s home.  She has since given me a Duffy bear from Hong Kong Disneyland, and I added two of my own from California Adventure.  While Erin’s bears have traveled all over the world (Japan, Hong Kong, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Tahiti, Belize, to name a few), my bears are content to reside mainly in California. Living in Taiwain, Erin is about 15 hours ahead of our time here in California.  For Cinco de Mayo, she posted pictures of one of her Duffy bears celebrating Cinco de Mayo on her Disney travel blog, Pooh’s Travels.   She dressed him in his outfit from Mexico and shows him sitting at the dinner table with a meal of chicken taquitos and mango margaritas spread out before him.  As soon as I saw her post I knew I had to do something special with one of my Duffy bears for Cinco de Mayo so I could send pictures to Erin. As my hubby and I had plans to go to Acapulco restaurant for dinner on May 5, I dressed my bear in his serape and sombrero and he tagged along.  Yep, we took a bear to dinner!  The older I get the less I seem to care if people think I’m crazy! I took a couple of pictures of him sitting in the booth with chips and salsa.  And my hubby is the one who put the chip in Duffy’s paw and moved the salsa close to him.  But the coolest part was that the restaurant had this beautiful young lady acting as a greeter for Cinco de Mayo and she was all dressed up in a gorgeous outfit from Mexico.  On the way out of the restaurant I asked her if Duffy could take a picture with her and she obliged.  I couldn’t wait to get home and send the pictures to Erin. When I first saw the pictures, I thought Duffy looked like he was sitting in a cantina and a song immediately came to mind — El Paso, by Marty Robbins.  So I included the first two verses when I sent Erin the pics and decided to include them on my layout too.

The patterned paper I used on this layout is from Basic Grey, their Life of the Party collection.  The cartridges I used are Elegant Edges for the stamped background mat and the diamond trim at the bottom of the pictures, Old West for the title, Mickey & Friends for the Mickey heads (I welded one to a rectangle for the tag that pulls out at the top), and Wild Card for the sombrero.

  • Basic Grey — Life of the Party
  • Cricut cartridges:  Elegant Edges, George & Basic Shapes, Mickey & Friends, Old West, Wild Card
  • Stickles

Easter Bunny Inside His Jelly Bean Seed Packet Card

 

This was a fun card to make.  I wanted to make an Easter card so I could enter it in Jitterbuggin’s Spring Fling contest.  We had extra time to complete this challenge, but I waited until the last minute and am getting this in just under the wire.  It took a while for me to take my concept and come up with a finished project.   This time the challenge is open to voting, so that part is new to me. 

I was inspired by the movie Hop — I loved it and can’t wait for it to come out on DVD.  But my little bunny has to use seeds for his beans as he does not have the talent EB does when it comes to producing jelly beans.

I was a member of PC Hug Club for many years and received some very cute clip art each month.  Because I have such a large collection and never use it, I decided I was going to print my own paper to make this card.  All the background prints are images that I printed on an inkjet printer.  I really like using the clip art because I can resize it — so a 12″ x 12″ background can be reduced to 6″ x 6″ to make a card.  The size of the print becomes smaller too, so it is perfect for cardmaking. 

Fantabulous Cricut has a challenge called Do the Bunny Hop! this week that I will enter this card in.  You have to create a project using a rabbit or chick.

Also, at Cooking With Cricut, their challenge is called Cash in Your Stash and you are supposed to use things in your stash — items that you have had for at least a year.  My clip art collection certainly qualifies, and I also used scraps that I have had for ages to make the bunny and the grass.

I made the seed packet in Adobe Illustrator.  I am such a beginner using that program and was thrilled when I actually made something with it.  I made it a complete packet so I could slip the bunny inside. 

Making the jelly beans was probably the most time-consuming aspect of the card.  I first did an online search to see if I could find a Cricut cut file for a jelly bean as I was pretty sure there were no jelly beans on any of the Cricut cartridges.  I found a post where someone said they made a jelly bean using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge, using the crescent and heart shapes.    I used the same shapes and laid the beans out in Design Studio.  I cut the jelly beans from white cardstock and then colored them with Copic markers.  I applied two layers of Glossy Accents to give the beans their shine. 

The bunny is from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge — he’s the bunny from the magician’s costume.  I made a bow for him from seam binding that I spritzed with Glimmer Mist.  The grass is from Create a Critter.  I cut two layers of the grass for each clump so the jelly beans could be seen growing between the layers.  After I placed the bunny inside the seed packet, I pop dotted the entire piece on the front of the card.

Side view showing some of the dimension of the card.

For the inside of the card, I used a stamp from a clear set that I picked up at a scrapbooking expo several months ago.  It came with the rhinestones that I put inside the stamped flowers.  I added another clump of grass with some more jelly beans.

 

  • Cricut cartridges:  George & Basic Shapes, Create a Critter, Paper Doll Dress Up
  • Cricut Design Studio
  • PC Hug Club clip art
  • Copic markers
  • Glimmer Mist
  • Rayon seam binding

Challenges:

Jitterbuggin — Follow the sketch, make an Easter card and use a Cricut cut somewhere on your card.

Cooking With Cricut — Use stuff in your stash, items that you have had for a year or more.

Fantabulous Cricut — Use a bunny or chick in your project.