Friday, October 5, 2012

Holiday Tomorrow


Tomorrow is World Card Making Day.  This holiday was founded by Paper Crafts Magazine and was first celebrated as National Card Making day on October 7, 2006.  In addition to celebrating the art of hand made cards, this day is a kick-off to the start of the holiday card making season (if you make holiday cards have you started yet?).


You can find lots of information about the holiday and cardmaking in general on the official website HERE.  There is a contest for cardmakers with a great prize package worth over $400.  Twenty of these prizes will be awarded (four in each of five categories - Birthday, Christmas/Season's Greetings, Hello/Thinking of You, Love and Thank You.  You can find details about the contest HERE, along with a link to the official rules.

Every year, I think I'll enter the contest but I haven't yet.  I am going to make some cards and enter this year.  I challenge you to enter as well - those prize packages are a great motivator!  The deadline for mailing your entries is October 15, 2012.

Have a great day - I'll be driving back from Pennsylvania today and after the rain I drove through a few days ago I hope that there is no rain for the return trip!


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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Easy Halloween Lantern with Vintage Images


I am visiting my Dad for a few days so the special surprises I had planned for this week will happen after I return.  In the meanwhile, here is another project from last year that I particularly enjoyed making.  This was a Halloween project but it is easily adapted for other holidays and occasions.

I used the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cricut cartridge for the lantern panels.  If you don't have this cartridge, you could make a similar shape using the Cricut Craftroom, Gypsy, Design Studio or your design software if you use another machine.

There are step by step detailed directions for making this project HERE.


Its Fall Yall Sweepstakes

Just a reminder - Dollar Days  at Lettering Delights will end Friday.  This is a great time to stock up on their digital products at a bargain price.   Most items are $1, cut file sets are $2.  Click the image above to go to the site and start shopping! 

Here are some special codes to help you save even more.  You can save 30% off a $20 or more purchase with the coupon code: SaveBushel and save 40% off your $50 purchase with the coupon code: Save Barrel.

I always try to visit some favorite thrift shops when I go back home to see Dad (he does need his naps after all!)  I'll share a few of my "finds" next week.  Do you like to search for hidden "treasures" at your local charity shops?

Have a great day!

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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Halloween tealights revisited


While I am away for a few days, I thought I'd share some links back to projects that you may have missed the first time around.  These tea light holders have an upcycled base - the lid to a Tropicana Juice bottle.  You can read the original post HERE.  


Some varieties of the juice have different lid colors - I have seen both red and green (perfect for Christmas).  You can also spray paint the lids if you want another color.  If you let friends and family know you are doing "something crafty" with the lids you can quickly assemble quite a collection (thanks to my mother-in-law for her contributions!).  

I drove the entire way to New Jersey through rain - at times torrential.  I hope the weather is nicer where you are - our son called from San Francisco and apparently it is in the 90s there!

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

HalloweenTrick or Treat Basket Tag


While attempting (again) to get organized, I found a few things in my craft room.  I have a box where I toss the pieces of chipboard that come in some paper packs and it had disappeared under a table.  I pulled it out and was inspired to try cutting some chipboard.

I have also decided that I should use some of the Cricut cartridges that are on my shelves that I haven't tried yet.  Some I bought because they were "deals" and I wanted to have them on hand "just in case" I need them...  While I enjoy designing my own shapes and images for the Cameo, sometimes I just want to "plug and play."


A friend sent me the Autumn Celebrations cartridge earlier this year and I put it aside since it wasn't the right season to be inspired to use it.  I looked through it and found lots of cute things to cut.  I decided to try making some chipboard tags with my newly rediscovered stash of chipboard.


I chose this tag and I was very pleased with the result.  I cut it at 3 1/2 inches and set the Cricut with pressure at max and the blade depth at 6 with a two times multi-cut.


Here is a photo of the side of the chipboard cut so you can see the thickness.  It is thicker than a cereal box but not extremely heavy.  I do have a deep cut blade (I've never opened it!) but I was able to cut this thickness easily with the regular blade.


I cut the base and the top layer from chipboard.  For the base,I cut two more layers - purple glitter cardstock (also on multicut 2) and some patterned paper for the back of the tag.  I cut just one layer for the top with the "Trick or Treat" words.



The glitter layers are so sparkly - you have to see them in person to catch the gleam!


 I used both my ATG gun and some liquid adhesive to put the layers together.  As always, with the Cricut cuts, the circle at the top was more like an oval but it doesn't really matter once you add some ribbon.  I tied a black grosgrain ribbon to make a hanger and then added some sheer orange and green ribbons.


After I added the ribbons on each side of the black hanger, I trimmed the ends at an angle for a more finished look.


A large purple gem brad fills the ribbon hole and adds more sparkle to the tag.


Here is the back side of the tag - the ends of the brad do show but I planned to use the tag on a basket or wreath so it won't be turned over very often.


The tag would work just fine cut from cardstock and layered but the chipboard is much heavier and makes the tag seem more important.  I inked all of the edges with black to make them less noticeable.


I think I may make some more chipboard tags and ornaments and use them to decorate my front door wreath for Halloween.

Do you use chipboard often?  I haven't used it for a long time and I had forgotten how much fun it is to use.  I cut out several things to share this week.  It is important to have a sticky mat to keep the chipboard in position - some people add painter's tape around the edges of the chipboard as extra "insurance" to hold it for the cut.

I thought I'd have a lot of time in my craftroom this week but I've decided to take a quick trip to Pennsylvania to see my Dad.  He has been having some trouble with his walking and I haven't been there for a while. 

Have a crafty day!

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Monday, October 1, 2012

Butterfly Wreath


I made this wreath using just one image of a butterfly, repeated and rotated.  I added the pink glow to soften the edges.


This is the butterfly I used for the wreath.  It is from the Dover Pictura Butterfly collection HERE  (this is a low quality screen shot - the actual images are high resolution and very crisp).


The Dover Pictura site is a new site that is still in beta.  Many of the books that are available in physical copies with CDs from Dover Publications are listed for purchase digitally.  When you register for the site, you will get an email with a special code that will allow you to download three image sheets for free.  I chose the three sets of butterfly images you can see above.  There are 14 digital butterflies to keep me busy for a while!

The prices for the collections are significantly lower than the physical book prices and you save shipping fees and can use your images right away.  You can also choose to buy just a sheet or two of the images from the book.  I don't have any affiliation with the site - I just think it is well worth a visit so you can see all of the great images that are available.


I have been using the images from another full book that I purchased to make cut files for the Cameo.  The stencil design books are great for making quick cards and page borders.  Some of the designs are very intricate and take a long time to cut. 

I an going to try to turn the butterfly wreath into a print and cut project - I think the image would be nice for cards.  If today doesn't get too busy I will post my results later.

It looks like we may have some sunshine today and I am looking forward to that after a drizzly weekend!  I did get to do a little shopping and, with luck, I'll get to use some of my new "finds" today.  I hope your week is off to a good start.


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