Christmas in June

I know it is only June, but I wanted to try out the flag option for "Merry Christmas" on the Jubilee cartridge so I made a Christmas card yesterday. I used "country colors" - darker shades of red and green and a gingham patterned paper for this 5 x 7 card.



Here you can see the various "Merry Christmas" options. I cut the banner using "fit to length" on the Expression, using 6 inches for my length so the banner would fit on a 5 x 7 card. The Cricut calculated the height at 2 1/2 inches (I had completely forgotten about this feature since I usually cut from the Design Studio program - it is very handy to have this ability when you aren't using the computer).

I also cut the holly sprigs from the shift function - I used the "flip" button for one of them. They were cut at 1 1/2 inches. The gingham patterned paper was too busy for the "Merry Christmas" to show through clearly, so I needed to face the banner. There is not a blackout option for this banner. There is a foundation for the other flag (on a stick) in the creative features. Once this cartridge is added to Design Studio we will be able to create a blackout by hiding the interior contours.




I was able to cut a piece of paper in the appropriate size to highlight the cut out letters by hand - you can see my "patch" of paper above.



I added quite a bit of white pen stitching and some Stickles glitter glue in red on the holly berries. Now think thoughts of snow - winter will be here before we know it!

Lyrical Letters again....

I just can't resist a bit more enabling - the new Lyrical Letters cartridge is so full of wonderful things! You may have seen the remnants of this cut on the mat in my post a few days ago (here is a LINK). I think it has a whimsical, homespun look - it reminds me of an applique quilt design.

I made a six inch square card. I cut the design at 5 inches, so there is a one-half inch border of dark green. I wanted to make it look like a quilt square so I "auditioned" a few papers to layer behind the cut design. I liked this yellow paper for the contrast with the blue design, and as we all know, blue and yellow make green, so it works with the card base as well.



This paper is from a Debbie Mumm paper stack. I tried it with the dotted lines running vertically...



...and then horizontally. I decided I preferred the horizontal look. I cut a square of paper just under five inches square. Then I adhered the cut to the patterned paper and put the "quilt square" on my card.



I "sewed" my quilt square with a white pen. It takes a while to do this, but I really like the "stitched" look.



Here is a close view of the pen stitching - my quilting stitches are not perfect either (!) but I think the overall effect is a nice "handmade" look.



This is the best white pen I have ever used for details and doodling. It is the Uniball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen.



The style number is UM-153. I found mine online at a company called Jetpens (click on the name for a link to their site). If you buy the 10 pen set for $21.50, the pens are a very reasonable $2.15 each. By adding a few more pens to your order, you can qualify for free shipping (on orders over $25). I ordered on a Sunday night and the pens were here in just a few days. Great pens and great service (and no, I do not have any affiliation with the company, I am just very impressed with their prices and service).



I really can't wait until Provocraft updates Design Studio to add this cartridge.

I had three swaps to get in the mail today - they had been put on the back burner over the holiday weekend. They are all in the mail and tomorrow I will get back to posting Design Studio files.