Circleville NSD 2013 — What’s It Owl About?

May 4, 2013 by 23 Comments

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  To celebrate National Scrapbook Day, some of the crafty members of the Cricut Circle are posting projects and activities on the message board all weekend long.

I created a challenge for my project and would like to share it with you.  My theme is owls — and the challenge is pretty simple, just create a project with an owl on it.  I made a layout using a cute owl family from Hoot ‘n’ Holler.

LO3

I laid out my design in Cricut Craft Room.  The patterned paper is printed on my Imagine using the Nursery Tails cartridge.  The solid cardstock is from Bazzill.  I began with Elegant Edges for the scalloped square in the background, cut at 10.5″, using <sclop2-s> and the shadow feature.  I used a white Sharpie poster paint marker to make the “stitch” lines around the square.

Scallop

Next I cut the two wood frames from Pooh & Friends at   5.5″ and 6.5″.  The frames are three layers — the basic feature and then two on the blackout feature.  For the piece cut using the printed paper, I hid the inside cut lines in CCR, so the piece was solid — it did not look like a frame.   Here is a picture of what it looks like in CCR.

FrameMat

I first assembled the basic cut and the blackout frame feature, adhering them together.  Then I prepared to glue the frame to the printed frame piece.  I wanted to leave an edge open so the picture could slide inside, so after deciding which end I wanted to leave open, I glued the frame to the mat on three sides only.  I used a liquid glue, but for the photo I laid some papers on the frame to show you were I put the glue. I did this to both frames.

FrameToMat

You can see in this photo how the pictures will slide into the frames.  I used a piece of scrap cardstock for demonstration purposes.

FramePic

Next was adhering the frames to the layout.  Since I wanted to hide tags behind the frames, I put the adhesive on the back of the frame the same way — gluing only 3 sides.  I marked the back of my frame to indicate which side was open for the photo, so I could be sure and leave the same end open for the tag.  I used the red sticky tape to adhere the frames to the layout.

FrameTape

Before attaching the frames to my background, I laid the cut pieces on it to get an idea where I wanted to place the frames.  I made light pencil marks on the background to guide me in the placement.

FramePlacement

I then checked to make sure the tags slid into the pockets behind the frames.

FramePocket

 

I made the tags to fit behind the frames, adjusting them in CCR to get the proper fit.  I used Tags, Bags, Boxes & More and the cut is <rndtop2>.  The large tag is 6.5″ x 3.75″ and the small one is 5.5″ x 3.125″.   The lined notebook paper is from  Simply Charmed, cut at 2.75″ x 4.5″ and 3.375″ x 5.375″, with the facial features and holes hidden.  This is a screenshot of the CCR file for the tags.

Tags

 

I used a punch to round the corners and a ruler and colored pencils to go over the score marks on the paper to make it look like actual notebook paper.  I just lightly held the pencils to the paper.

ColorPencils

I adhered the notebook paper to the tags.

Tags3

Next up was the owl family.  They were cut at 5″ using Hoot ‘n’ Holler.  After I cut all the pieces, I used chalk and ink to shade them.  I went over all the edges with chalk first, using a pom pom and chalk applicator.  Then I inked the edges using Distress Ink.

Chalk

 I assembled each owl first and then glued them onto the branch.  I bought a mustache punch a couple of weeks ago, so I had to try it out on Papa owl.  I think he looks pretty dapper with it.  The bow on Momma owl’s head is from Simply Charmed.  I attached the leaves next.

Owls

After adhering all the owls and leaves onto the branch, I attached the branch to my layout.  The owl cut did not include the flowers.  I used Cricut Essentials, cutting Flower 4 at 1″.  I cut three for the branch and four for the tags.  I used Distress Ink (Squeezed Lemonade) to ink the edges of the flowers and Stickles for the centers.

OwlsCU

 The title is from Hoot ‘n’ Holler, cut at 3″.  The scallop oval is from Francy Frames and the cut is <fram13lr>.  I hid the inside cut so I ended up with a solid piece.  I resized the oval to fit the title and it measures roughly 5.625″ x 3.75″.

TitleCU

Here is a picture of the completed layout with the tags pulled partially out.  Hiding journaling tags behind your photo mats is easy to do.

LoTags

LO7

To top off the fun,  I am offering a prize for comments here on my blog.  All you have to do is leave a comment, but only one per person will go into the drawing.  I will leave it open for a week, until May 12 at 8 p.m. (EDT), when I will randomly draw a name.  I am giving away some Graphic 45 goodies — an 8″ x 8″ Secret Garden paper pad and a small matchbook box.

SecretGardenCover copy

SmMatchbook copy

I am sharing a list of some of the talented members of Circleville who have joined together for the weekend festivities and invite you to visit their blogs and see their wonderful projects:

NSD1_edited-200

 

Cricut cartridges used:  Elegant Edges, Fancy Frames, Hoot ‘n’ Holler, Nursery Tails (Imagine), Pooh and Friends, Simply Charmed, Tags, Bags, Boxes & More

  • Bazzill cardstock
  • Distress Ink
  • Chalk
  • Stickles

 

Filed Under: Cards and Projects, Circle Challenge, Elegant Edges, Fancy Frames, Hoot 'n' Holler (Lite), Layouts, Pooh & Friends, Simply Charmed, Stickles, Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cute Bee Card Created in Cricut Craft Room

April 21, 2013 by 8 Comments

 

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

Card3

  • 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

Filed Under: Blast Off, Bubblegum Stripes, Card Challenges, Create a Critter, Cricut, Flower Shoppe, George and Basic Shapes, Hopscotch, Mickey Font, Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Tagged With: , , , , , ,