1st Banner for Cricut Expression 2 Design Challenge

September 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 

On Monday, September 26 at 12:01 a.m. EST, Provo Craft is going to launch their newest machine — the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN.  They posted a challenge to design and make a banner and they are going to give away five new Expression 2’s to some very lucky winners.  You were able to make two banners to enter, so this is the first banner I made.

I knew the competition was going to be tough because there are so many talented Cricut users, so I tried to think a little “outside the box.”  For some reason, hanging a mini banner on a glass block was my first idea.   I originally planned on using etching cream to frost the glass, but because I was using a small string of LED lights I ended up putting glass marbles inside to help hold the lights in place.

The banner is made using Bazzill and Core’dinations cardstock.  I used the Birthday Bash cartridge for my banner base.  The green frame was cut from Lacy Labels, the scalloped circles from Mini Monograms, the regular circles from George and Basic Shapes, and the black valances were cut from Straight from the Nest.  The Cricut lettering is from Cricut Everyday and I cut it out of a glitter cardstock from DCWV.  I used two Swarovski crystals on the antennae.  I added some small flowers punched from a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page combo called Flower Shower and used lime green Stickles for the centers.

The pieces on the glass were cut from vinyl — the white fancy scroll frame is from Ornamental Iron 2 and the Bug head is from Cricut Everyday.  I was impressed with how well the Cricut cut the vinyl.  Here is a picture of the block all lit up.

FrontLit4

I decided to decorate the back of the block too and I used the same frame that I put on the front, cut from Ornamental Iron 2.  I recently bought this cartridge and I am lovin’ it!  It has some beautiful designs on it and I think they look great cut out of vinyl.

The phrase and Bug head on the back are both cut from Cricut Everyday.  And here is a picture of the back of the block with the lights on.

To hang the banner on the glass block, I glued some black & white dotted ribbon around the edges using Terrifically Tacky Tape.  I strung the banner together using DMC’s Memory Thread.  I sewed and glued the ends of the Memory Thread on the banner.  To cover up my stitches, I punched some more flowers and glued them on top.  I also scattered a few flowers on the front and back of the block.  I tied some wide Cricut green organza ribbon around the entire block and made a big bow using my Bowdabra.

The last picture is of the side of the block.

  • Cricut cartridges used:  Birthday Bash, Cricut Everyday, George and Basic Shapes, Lacy Labels, Mini Monograms, Ornamental Iron 2 and Straight from the Nest
  • Cardstock:  Bazzill, Core’dinations, DCWV
  • Cricut vinyl
  • DMC Memory Thread
  • Terrifically Tacky Tape
  • Martha Stewart Flower Shower punch
  • Lime green Stickles
  • Swarovski crystals
Filed Under: Birthday Bash, Challenges, Cricut Everyday, Lacy Labels (Lite), Martha Stewart Punches, Mini Monograms, Ornamental Iron 2, Stickles, Straight from the Nest Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Father’s Day Card From The Smoochy Poochy

June 20, 2011 by 4 Comments

 

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
Filed Under: Beyond Birthdays, Card Challenges, Cards and Projects, Cartridges, Circle Challenge, Cooking With Cricut, Cricut, Doodlecharms, Paisley, Paper Pups, Sans Serif, Simply Charmed Tagged With: , , , , ,

Jitterbuggin’ Challenge – Let’s Give Thanks! – Thanks From the Bottom of My Heart

November 24, 2010 by 2 Comments

The current challenge at Jitterbuggin’ is to follow the sketch, add a Cricut cut and emboss something. 

I’m not sure where my colors for this card came from — I must have been in a “bright” mood.  I recently received an order from Stampin’ Up and it was sitting in a box and I started pulling out colors.  All the colored cardstock is from Stampin Up’.

I embossed the three center sections using my Cuttlebug and the following folders:  Spots & Dots, Textile Texture and Forest Branches.  I inked each folder with a different color of ink and then ran white cardstock through the Cuttlebug.  The white scalloped trim around the center section is a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Scallop 3-Dot.  I used just the very top part of the punched piece — the top dot.  I had to piece it because my cardstock size was not the exact size to take advantage of the punch-around-the-page feature.

I used my Cricut to cut out the skunk from the Create a Critter cartridge.  I also cut the heart-shaped balloon from Create a Critter.  The “thanks” is cut from Don Juan.  I attached some ribbon to the ballon and then attached it to the skunk’s hand.  I added a bow to the ballon. 

For the inside of the card, I cut another heart from Create a Critter.  I printed the sentiment on the computer.  I added another bow to the inside heart.

  • Stampin’ Up cardstock
  • Cricut cartridges:  Create a Critter and Don Juan
  • Cuttlebug folders:  Spots & Dots, Textile Texture and Forest Branches
  • Martha Stewart Scallop 3-Dot Punch Around the Page set
  • Ribbon from my stash
Filed Under: Card Challenges, Cards and Projects, Cartridges, Create a Critter, Cricut, Cuttlebug, Don Juan, Jitterbuggin, Martha Stewart Punches Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Snow Owl ~ Winter Wonderland

November 3, 2010 by 12 Comments

It has been quite a while since I made a card.  Erin, my darling daughter and the other half of this blog, came out to visit from Taiwan for a month.  We spent a lot of time at Disneyland and had lots of fun.  And we did a lot of shopping.  We went to Michaels so many times — even hit three different stores in one day.  On one of our last shopping trips, we both bought a Cricut Gypsy.  Thanks to so many online tutorials, I am slowly learning how to use it. 

For this card I used my favorite Cricut owl cut, which is from the Disney Happily Ever After cartridge.  I decided to make him a snow owl and wanted the card to be all sparkly and pretty.  The solid cardstock for the card base is Bazzill Bling and the patterned paper is from Heidi Grace, the Frost Blvd collection.   

I cut a snowflake from When It’s Cold Outside and cut a circle in the middle of it so the little owl can look out.  The sentiment is cut from Winter Woodland.  I heat embossed both cuts all over using a Versamark Dazzle stamp pad and Ranger holographic embossing powder. 

I used a Martha Stewart corner punch from the Snowfall Punch Around the Page combo for the snowflakes on the corners of the light blue square.  I used two other Martha Stewart snowflake punches to add some extra snowflakes by the sentiment and on the inside of the card.  And I added a lot of rhinestones.

The final embellishment I did was to wrap some yarn around the fold of the card.  I love mini albums and the ribbon and charms that hang from the binding, so I attempted to duplicate that look.   After wrapping the yarn around the card, I threaded some snowflake sequins and beads on thread and attached the thread to the yarn. 

For the inside of the card, I sprinkled snowflakes on both sides and added more rhinestones.

I am going to enter this card in two challenges.  The first is Jitterbuggin’s Wise Guys challenge and this week the sketch is optional.  The only requirements are to use a circle and a square, include an owl and a Cricut cut.

The second challenge is Fantabulous Cricut’s Challenge Me Monday #34, Bird Bonanza.  For this challenge you have to create a project that has something to do with a bird. 

  • Bazzill Bling cardstock
  • Heidi Grace patterned paper, Frost Blvd collection
  • Cricut cartridges:  When It’s Cold Outside, Happily Ever After and Winter Woodland
  • Versamark Dazzle stamp pad
  • Ranger holographic embossing powder
  • Rhinestones, snowflake sequins and yarn from my stash
Filed Under: Card Challenges, Cartridges, Happily Ever After, When It's Cold Outside, Winter Woodland Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Pink October – Hunt For The Cure – Cricut Circle Blog Weekly Challenge #2: THINK PINK!

October 14, 2010 by 6 Comments

The challenge this week for Cricut Circle Members is to make a project using at least two Cricut cuts and use pink, ruffles, scallops, flourishes, glitter and jewels (have to use any 3 on your project).  My project is a card and I got the idea from the movie, The Hunt for Red October.

The solid cardstock is from Bazzill and the pattern paper is from me and my Big ideas.  I welded the wave border from the Life is a Beach Cricut cartridge on a rectangle from George and Basic Shapes.  The submarine is also from Life is a Beach, the letters from Lyrical Letters, the critters from Create a Critter, and the awareness ribbons from Stand and Salute.

I used Martha Stewart graphite glitter on the propeller and the periscope and used lots of rhinestones on the card.

On the inside of the card I used a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Bubble Bath.

  • Cardstock:  Bazzill and me and my Big ideas
  • Cricut cartridges:  George and Basic Shapes, Life is a Beach, Lyrical Letters, Create a Critter, Stand and Salute
  • Martha Stewart glitter (graphite)
  • Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page set, Bubble Bath
  • Rhinestones
Filed Under: Card Challenges Tagged With: , , , , ,

Challenge Friday: Eerie – Weekly Challenge #1 at the Cricut Circle Blog

October 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I am a member of the Cricut Circle, a select community of Provo Craft Cricut enthusiasts.  The new Circle blog was launched on October 1 and will be open to the public for the first ten days.  After that it will be available to Circle members only.

The blog is featuring weekly challenges and the first one began the day the blog launched.  This challenge is open to Circle members and requires you to use two cuts from the French Manor cartridge, an exclusive members-only cartridge.   You also had to use pearls or jewels on your project.

I created a Halloween card using DCWV’s Black Currant cardstock stack.  The solid color cardstock is from Bazzill.  I used French Manor for the mirror and the keys.  The bat, skull, spider and “eerie” sentiment are from the Happy Hauntings cartridge.  The spider webs are from Wild Card.  I used Stickles on the bodies of the spiders and added some teardrop-shaped jewels above the sconces on the mirror.  I bought the jewels at Joann’s (in the $1 bin) the night I did the card, not knowing at the time that they would work so well with the design. 

A few days ago, a Circle member (Capadia) posted a helpful tip for cutting small letters.  She suggested cutting them from vinyl.  You can find her post on her blog here.  I cut the “eerie” letters using vinyl and it worked perfectly, right down to the tiny dot for the “i”. 

On the inside of the card, I layered some cardstock and added another spider and web.

  • DCWV Black Currant stack
  • Bazzill Bling cardstock
  • Black vinyl (scrap) for sentiment
  • Cricut cartridges:  French Manor, Happy Hauntings, and Wild Card
  • Jewels from Joann’s ($1 bin)
  • Ranger Stickles – pink
Filed Under: Card Challenges, French Manor, Happy Hauntings, Wild Card Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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