I decided it was time to try my hand at the Cricut Craft Room. When I got there, to my delight, there was a "use it free" cartridge called Southwest. There is also a contest for the cartridge as well that ends on the 21st of March. All I can say is, "Thank you PC! Your timing is impeccable!
My aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary is coming up. My aunt loves everything Native so the release of this, plus free usage, couldn't have happened at a better time! Her favorite colors are red and blue. Her favorite animal: the bald eagle.
I had originally wanted to get this done for the CricutFANatics blog, but life did not allow for that. Do stop by there and check out the great ideas going on over there!
Here is a better look at the chunky charm I made to go onto the book.
I made the heart, the eagle and 50 from Southwest using Poly Shrink. I cut them out with my Cricut and then colored them and then melted them with my heat gun. To the 50 I added some Judikins glaze and then sprinkled some glitter to match the 50 I made on the album. I learned how to make chunky charms from the girls at the Cricut message board trades. (I completed a full year of swaps! So fun!)
The Oh Happy Day, the eagle and the border were cut from SW cartridge. The book shapes were cut from Elegant Edges. (One of my all time favs!) The 50 was cut from the Gypsy Font, which is another free cart available on the Cricut Craft Room site. The flowers were sprayed with copic markers to make them a better match.
These are the first two pages. The heart vase and the love label were cut from SW cartridge. I took one of the little hearts that were cut out from the border image and added it to the top button.
The next two pages. The arrows were cut from SW cartridge. I added some hearts to them and also along the borders of the tag. I covered a tag I didn't like with washi tape that matched the theme I was doing the mini in.
The next two pages. The one on the left is my favorite one in the mini. I love the motion of the page with the bling and the man's motion looking like he is playing a song for them!
The next two pages. The butterfly is from SW cart also. The tags were cut from Gypsy Wanderings. I found the little pockets on the right hand page in my stash while I was looking for something else. I thought they went really well. She can put little treasures/notes in them. Happy find! The flowers and black pearls are Prima.
The next two pages. I cut the Mr & Mrs and the feather from SW. The little hearts are the left overs from the first couple pages with the heart border. I love the feather! It is so sweet!
The next two pages. I used Gypsy Wanderings for the mat on the left and SW for the border on the right. The butterfly is from Recollections.
The last two pages. I added the rest of the left over arrows to the right page and another border from SW. There were so many nice borders! The mat on the left is from Gypsy Wanderings.
I am super pleased with how the album turned out. It is definitely in my aunt's style. She is a hard working woman, but not a frilly one. She will like it because it is beautiful, but not in that girly-girl look. She had 5 boys, so she didn't get much use for girly-girl things. My uncle will like it because she likes it. (He's good like that!)
The book was bound with my Cinch.
All of the papers were: cardstock - Bazzill, DCWV for all the designer papers, except the orange swirl and the black swirl - they are 7Gypsies papers.
I didn't buy anything new to build this with. MamaC (aka Carol) will be so proud!
I really enjoyed this project!
Thanks for stopping by!
My first attempt at putting a video on my blog! Only my second video ever!
This is my first attempt at a CAS card. (Clean and Simple)
What I didn't know was how much stress it would cause me! I tend to make fancier cards, or at least those with more embellishments. I literally was shaking when I did this! Good grief! I originally put the three flags on just the white background, like I see in so many CAS forums. I got so nervous, I had to put some purple on there before I could walk away! The idea is to keep the cards simple with the focus on the design. I
did mange to do that. It's tough looking at it and not "embellishing"
it!
I really wanted to go beyond my comfort zone and try these CAS cards. I love the way they look, but have not felt comfortable enough doing them. I found this new(to me) site CAS-ual Fridays which has a challenge each week on Fridays. I also found out they do these cards each week in SCS in a forum challenge each Monday. Also on Monday, there is a "try a new technique" at Splitcoast as well. The challenges were: CAS-ual Fridays - blocks of color. SCS: sketch challenge. I also used their new technique challenge which was a graduated color challenge. They worked well together.
My card may not be a winner in any category, but I made it through my first card! Yippee!
I made this layout of my daughter using
an accidental photo that I just love. The light was coming in the window, directly
across her face. I'm not sure if you can see in this photo, but you
can see both sides of her. The portion on the right side of the photo
is just darker.
I
used Quarter Note for the script writing, Printing Press for the J,
Accent Essentials for the stars and Sophia for the doily under the
photo. I cut the doily in 1/2 and then cut two of the flower flourishes to add to the journaling card under the photo.
I made the flower on the J with tulle and then added the brad.
I used some very old Glitz rub-ons and stickers, MME journal cards
and labels, a fabric ticket from Webster's Pages, some buttons and
washi tape. Life is not life without a little washi!
Challenge yourself to do a scrapbook page of an accidental
photo. Try to also work outside of your comfort zone! Use up some of
those wonderful goodies you have! Have a lovely, long weekend!
Thanks for stopping by!
Monday, February 11, 2013
This little digi is not free, but I like her anyway. She is from the Saturated Canary. I am loving the ditial stamps!
Why am I making so many birthday cards? you may ask. We are having a monthly birthday party for all of the girls at work, and then as close to their birthday, I am giving them each a unique card in their color(s) of choice.
As my friend's birthday is on the 13th of Feb, so I ended up using this little girl with hearts and colored her with copics. The colors are askew here, I see. I can tell as the boots look red, but are really a rusty-brown. I added glossy accents to all of the hearts. I cut out the frames from Elegant Edges on my Expression and then ran the outer part through my Big Shot with a CuttleBug folder. The texture really changed the look of the whole thing! The red portion is SU! card stock and the inner portion with the flowers is a Glitz paper. I went digging in my goodies and found those red skittles? I added some gold cord around the frame where the two pieces meet. That was the hardest part of the whole card! I then added some flowers as it felt a little naked.
I used rub-ons for the Happy Birthday (now only about 2 million rub-ons to go! lol!) and then cut out two layers with SU! punches. The background paper is "funkadelic" and I wish I knew who's it was. I liked it so much I picked up two pieces of it one at two different times from my stash to use while making this card! lol! I used a white marker on the brown for stitching and brown dots on the kraft card stock.
The inside has been cone as well. I am happy with the overall look of this card!
How is it possible to keep using your stash and never seem to make a dent? That is why I joined the "using my stash" thread. I hope it will really encourage me to keep digging in!
If you stop by and have a challenge blog or know of a fun one, please let me know. I find it a wonderful opportunity to force myself to keep going! The challenges are a lot of fun and I'd love to come play along with you!
This card was made for another friend. I have asked them to tell me their favorite colors and then I go from there. I had so much fun with this little girl! Her snickering made me think of how we like to tease each other. So, who could resist saying, "You're how old?" Hehehe. She loved the card, despite my teasing her.
The mats were made from Spellbinders using SU! papers. I'm not sure about the background paper. It's double-sided and lovely, but it's old and there was no tab along the bottom with the company name on it!
The little girl is another digi stampfrom Sliekje. I think she is just fabulous! I colored her with copics.
The butterflies are from SU! and are a Sizzix die/folder. I love these little follows and enjoy adding them for little extras on cards.
The little flowers are old Cuttlebug dies. I typed out the sentiment on the computer and cut them out. I just curled the eldges and added some Judikins Diamond Glaze. It's a lot like Glossy Accents or Crystal Effects except you can get it in a ginormous bottle and it's not expensive! One lesson for all of you new to it, like me. The opening is huge compared to the others so it flows very quickly and may make a mess if you're not careful!
The chipboard hearts, the present (Making Memories) and pearl swirls have been sitting in a jar on my table since hmmm, well, I can't remember it's been so long!
The ribbon is SU! and the rose ribbon is Maya Road, I think.
I added wee little pears on the little girl and butterflies. They are only a couple months old. I use them like crazy! They are awesome for the teenie weenie little touches you need! They are from CTMH and are the best little pearls I have ever found.
I added the extra piece of designer paper to the inside and cut out another mat to write on. More paper is being used and it's not quite so boring on the inside!
Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome day!
For the Muse challenged, I used the yellow and mats. For
Craft Us Crazy, I used my Sizzix Big Shot for the machine. I chose some Spellbinders and Cuttlebug dies that I'm sure would
qualify for antiques! I just dusted off those dies and ran them through the
Big Shot. I forgot how easy they are to use. Normally, I would use my
Cricut, but I'm trying to dig out things I haven't used in awhile, and
my Spellbinders and Cuttlebug dies definitely qualify!
I have been busy wandering around the net looking for new "free" things. To my amazement there are tons and tons of free digi stamps out there! Can we all say, "Woot, Woot"?!
The one that totally blew me away was this one: Sliekje's. She is a wonderful woman who loves to do art and shares her beautiful digital images ALL FOR FREE!!! Is she amazing or what?!!!
The card today, and my next one will be made from her fabulous stamps. I didn't see names attached to the images, so just go take a look for yourself!
I colored this little cutie with copics. I fussy cut her out. I now plan on getting a Cameo so that it will eventually do it for me! I put her in the colors that my friend (for whom this card is for) had picked: Purple and Blue. Everything was from my stash. Except for her, she will be there for many years to come! I also used some washi tape that I bought awhile ago, but didn't use yet. I also dug up some of my old Spellbinders dies! Ah, shopping in your own goodies can be a lot of fun. When you go rooting around it's amazing what you can find!
I added some white Slick dots. (I think it's a Michael's product that comes in a bottle like Stickles) I machine sewed around the card. I added Prima flowers, a pine branch (cut from my Cricut) washi tape, ribbon, cord, buttons, flowers and some bling (Can you say old dollar store?!). I think I went crazy when I was first able to get bling at the dollar store. I don't think that supply will ever run out!
I then took some of the left over papers and put them on the inside. It dresses up the card and also uses some of the stash! My friend was thrilled with the card. She especially loved the little girl's hair.
Thank you Angelique for your wonderful images. You are truly an angel!
Today I made a little Valentine's card for my grand daughter. It was made with my new Penny Black stamp set. I stamped the image twice. Once on the plain paper and then again on the polka dot paper. (Love polka dots!!!) I cut the ears and her dress out of the polka dot paper and layered it on. I colored the rest of the image with Copics and then cut it out. A little flock for her tail. The large heart I added glossy accent. Hard to tell if she is supposed to be a Valentine's or Easter image... So I'll likely use her for both!
The heart behind her was cut out from my Cricut using Sweethearts cartridge. I chose to save the heart for another time and use the negative. I cut strips from paper that had already been used for a project or two and layered it behind the heart. It's a fun way to use leftover pieces of paper in a pretty way! I added some brads, some twine and another heart from the stamp set. I added some white dots along the bottom. They really changed the look of the project!
