Creative Charms "Girlfriend" Cards

It's my turn to post on the Creative Charms blog today - you can hop over to the blog HERE to see my projects and catch up on all of the great things the rest of the Design Team has been posting.

This card has several embossed layers.  The white strip is cut at 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches and embossed with the "Polka Dot" Cuttlebug folder.  The pink layer was cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches and the short sides were punched with a scallop punch.  This layer is embossed with the Cuttlebug "D'vine Swirls" folder.

The white strip is centered with three scallops of the pink layer above and below.  Sometimes the embossing will make a piece of cardstock slightly smaller.  If the black card shows you can just trim a tiny sliver to even things up.

There is a pocket inside the card to hold a gift card.  I didn't emboss this area so that a message can be written on the pink card holder.  If you wanted to, you could also add a white liner, put the card holder on top of the liner and emboss or embellish the pink area.

When you add the pocket to the inside of the card be sure to put adhesive on the sides and bottom and leave the top open.  (It is easy to forget about leaving the top open until you have stuck the piece down - don't ask me how I know this!).

The "shop til you drop" sentiment is from the Paisley cartridge.  I added some black and white Shimmer Flowers.  These are part of the Simplicity collection which is on sale for 70% off at Creative Charms - it's definitely time to stock up!

I thought the card was finished and then I decided it needed a few gem stickers in the lower left corner to balance it out a bit (you'll notice they are missing from the photo at the top of this post!).

The sentiment was cut from DCWV silver glitter cardstock.  I do a multi cut (2 times) with the blade at 6 and high pressure when I cut this cardstock and it cuts cleanly.  The sparkle it adds is great but very difficult to capture in a photo.

The second card I made would be nice to send a caring note to a friend.  The flower and sentiment stamps are from Hero Arts.

I stamped the image with Versamark ink on the black cardstock.

Then I covered the area with pink glitter embossing powder, tapped off the excess and heat embossed the images.

The black cardstock is cut at 5 x 3 3/4 inches and the pink mat is cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches.  The card is pretty with the pink glitter embossing but I couldn't just stop there!

These Black Sheer flowers with Iridescent Pearls are also part of the Simplicity line that is on sale.

The flower works perfectly in the center of the stamped flower with some purple gem stickers added for even more sparkle.

A few more tiny gem stickers at the lower right corner finish off the card.

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July - I'll have a few photos to share soon.  Thanks for all the nice comments you left for Scott.  I think I need to build another castle to keep here - I may see how large I can possibly make it...

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Happy Fourth of July!

It looks like we will have a hot day to celebrate the Fourth of July - our fingers are crossed that the rain stays away so we can enjoy the Picnic in the Park.  This photo is from last year's bike and stroller parade - it's always fun to see the decorations and watch the kids go by!

Saturday we had a nice time with our nephew Scott.  He spent the day with us (Aunt Diane Camp) while his parents took his older brother and sister to their summer camp.  They all have grown a lot since last year.  We took a photo in the front yard (in the same spot as last year) to help keep track of how the twins are growing up.  They are now at camp in Maine for a couple of weeks.

 We had all sorts of plans for the day - at the top of the list was making a  Harry Potter "Hogwarts" castle.  There is no Harry Potter Cricut cartridge (I bet that would be popular!) but there is a great 3D castle on the "Once Upon a Princess" cartridge.  I set up a file on the Gypsy to cut the castle as large as possible on 12 x 12 cardstock (without separating sections that are already on the same key).   The height of 8 1/2 inches worked perfectly for this castle.  You could make it even larger by hiding lines and moving sections around on the mat.

Scott very quickly caught on to the process of loading, controlling the cut with the Gypsy and taking the pieces off the mat.  It took seven pieces of 12 x 12 cardstock (three light gray, three dark gray and one green) to cut all of the pieces we needed.

 

We used the 12 x 24 inch mat so we could cut more pieces at the same time.   All of the pieces fit on 12 x 12 cardstock but the roof key was a tight fit.  It looked like we would run into the "uncuttable" area of the mat so I shifted the paper to the one inch mark on the 12 x 24 mat and had no problems with the cut.  (This is a handy trick for things that almost fit.  I also could have turned the set of images on the diagonal but by simply shifting the paper and keeping the image straight I ended up with a more useful "scrap" piece).

There is a lot of scoring and folding to do but the directions in the handbook are easy to follow.  I thought the construction was very clever and well thought out - you couldn't really make a mistake if you looked carefully at the images in the book and had everything lined up the same way.  This is the interior section of the castle.

The tabs that hold the sections together are made to look like shields and fit into the design nicely.  The last stage is a little tricky and having two pairs of hands was helpful.  We started out using the Martha Stewart Score Board but switched to the Scor-Pal because it was easier to see the lines that we needed to follow.

Here is the bird's eye view of the castle.  We used 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch Scor-Tape for all of the seams and it worked out very well.  The only place that was a little tricky was attaching each green roof to the turrets.  It helped to keep the flaps almost straight so they could connect to the inside of the roof when it was lowered over the top - the space is too small to reach in from below to line up the tabs.

Scott tells me that there is no drawbridge at Hogwarts - you could use "hide contour" and change the doors if you wanted to.

Here is a view of the side and back of the castle.  We were both pleased with the way it turned out.  I thought we might do a second version that Scott could decorate by drawing on it while the pieces were still flat but we ended up going to see Cars 2 in 3D - lots of 3D in our day!  (The movie was great - Scott said it was a "5 star" and it "exceeded my expectations" so I think he really liked it!)

The castle can be decorated after it is assembled but it will be trickier to do any writing or drawing - maybe some stickers will work to personalize the final result.

Once Upon a Princess is an older cartridge and one that I resisted buying for a long time since I have no little girls at home and I really don't like those little people with the upturned arms and pointy feet!  I did get it on sale last Black Friday and now I am very glad to have it.  The castle is great fun to make and can be made (as we did) in different colors to look less girly.  There are lots of the elements for a Princess Party (3D wands, tiaras and crowns, invitations, cute word art, treat bags) in addition to the inevitable cupcakes with smiling faces.  There is also a wonderful teapot shape and the "tag" feature key is full of interesting shapes that layer nicely and are perfect for journaling boxes, as a card front or (cut smaller) for sentiments.

I hope you have a lovely holiday.  If you have a chance to leave comment and a "hi" for Scott that would be great - I think he will be checking the blog to see the photos of our castle.

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Peachy Keen Blushing Bride Winner!

This morning I have a quick post to let you know the name of the winner of the set of Peachy Keen "Blushing Bride" stamps.  Thanks again to everyone who left such nice comments - I am very happy to hear that you enjoyed my "take" on the Peachy Keen Stamps.

I will be posting a project with these faces soon - and one reader will be able to play along with a new set of stamps.

The winner (chosen by random.org) is...

S. Bayles

Congratulations Sandy!  I will email you to get your address and send these out after the holiday!


I'll try to get back later today with another post - it all depends on how things are going at "camp"!  Maybe we can share our progress on the Hogwarts castle!

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Creative Charms Deal and Kit of the Month for July

Are you ready for a little more Christmas in July?  A new month means a new Deal and Kit of the Month from Creative Charms and the Kit of the Month will definitely get you in the holiday spirit

July Kit of the Month

The 145 Pieces July Kit of the Month includes:

• Winter Chipboard Stickers - 6 Pieces
• Christmas Vintage Metal Frames - 6 Pieces
• White 3D Sparkly Garden Butterfly - 12 Pieces
• Christmas Twinkle Stickers - 10 Pieces
• Winter Seasonal Sparkles - 21 Pieces
• Red & Green Vintage Jewels - 12 Pieces
• Red & Green Gradient Gem Stickers - 76 Pieces
• 18" Red Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• 18" Green Wide Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

Everything for only $14.99

If it is just too hot for you to even think about Christmas, you may like the summer flowers, bling and butterflies in the Deal of the Month for July.

July Deal of the Month

This 151 Piece Deal of the Month includes:

• Sunburst Daisy - 5 Pieces
• Yellow Braided Daisy Medley - 4 Pieces
• Amber & Green Gradient Gem Brads - 12 Pieces
• Orange 3D Sparkly Garden Butterfly - 12 Pieces
• Yellow Groovy Petal Medley - 8 Pieces
• Green Gradient Gem Stickers - 76 Pieces
• Summer Medley - 21 Pieces
• Palm Tree Brads - 12 Pieces
• 18" Green Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

All this for only $6.99!

This month there is another special offer - a beautiful wedding mini-kit...

Dream Garden Wedding Kit

This 96 Pieces Dream Garden Wedding Mini Kit includes:

• White Sparkled Butterfly Medley - 5 Pieces
• White Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• White Gradient Pearl Stickers - 76 Pieces
• White Vintage Pearl Brads - 9 Pieces

All this for only $6.99

White Flared Flower from Simplicity collection

There is still time to get a great deal on the Simplicity line. These black and white embellishments are perfect for graduations, weddings and anything else that needs a classy touch. Everything is 70% off. This probably won't last long at these prices!

Vintage Brad Kit

Also, for this weekend only the Vintage Brad Kit is back. This great set includes the Blue Vintage Marble Brads, Amber Vintage Marble Brads and Grey Vintage Pearl Brads. This set is only $5.25 through the 4th.

Creative Charms Weekend Giveaway...

June Kit of the Month

June Deal of the Month

Finally, since this weekend is the 4th of July holiday, Creative Charms is also giving away both the June Kit of the Month and the June Deal of the Month. These will be perfect for all of your 4th of July pics! Just go to the Creative Charms Blog, leave a comment and be a follower to enter.


Peachy Keen Giveaway

Today is the last chance to leave comments on my Peachy Keen Guest Designer posts here and the Peachy Keen Blog for a chance to win the PK-590 Blushing Bride Interchangeable Faces set.  You have until midnight (11:59 p.m. Pacific time) on Saturday, July 2 to leave your comments and I'll post the winner on Sunday.

I'll be busy today, moving some of our furniture to make way for the construction and preparing for "Camp Aunt Diane" since our nephew will be visiting again while his parents take our twin niece and nephew to camp.  I think we are going to try to build Hogwarts!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

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Christmas in July for my last "Peachy" Day

  

Happy July!  Today is my last day as Guest Designer on the Peachy Keen Stamps blog.

Thanks for all of the comments both here and the Peachy Keen blog - remember, you can leave a comment on every post this week to increase your chances of winning a great set of Peachy Keen stamps!  You have until midnight (11:59 p.m. Pacific time) on Saturday, July 2 to leave your comments and I'll post the winner on Sunday.

I thought I'd do a little more "Christmas in July."  When I was looking at some of the seasonal Peachy Keen stamps, this little fellow just stole my heart.  He is the  Snickerdoodle Happy Elf  (PK-319) and I love everything about him - snickerdoodles are even one of my favorite cookies!  I don't have a lot of experience coloring stamped images but I find that the Peachy Keen images are great to work with.  There is just enough detail to make it fun but not so much that you have to make lots of decisions about shadows and layers.  I use ProMarkers to do my coloring.

I colored this little elf several times, trying slightly different variations.  I used Stickles on the trim of has jacket to add some sparkle.  For the image on the left, I used Versamark ink and black glitter embossing powder and heat embossed the image.  This makes it a bit easier to stay in the lines (but I am far from perfect in my coloring!).  I like both variations and I thought I'd try making a couple of cards to show how the image works for a circle or an oval.

You can read more about this card...

...and this card....

on the Peachy Keen blog HERE.

Don't forget to leave comments on my posts here and the coordinating posts on the Peachy Keen Stamps blog, each day this week for a chance to win the PK-590 Blushing Bride Interchangeable Faces set.

I have really enjoyed this week and I hope you have too.   I'm sure there will be lots more "peachiness" on my blog as I continue to find ways to use these great stamps!

Have a great weekend and Happy Fourth of July!

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