Fleur-de-lis Filigree (with a bonus!)

A couple of weeks ago I was looking through the Wild Card cartridge just to remind myself about all of the great images available on this cartridge. Some cartridges have so many interesting design possibilities and Wild Card is full of hidden treasures!



I saw this border design of four fleurs-de-lis welded together. This reminded me of the fancy ironwork that you sometimes see on older buildings and fences. So, I started to play around with the element. I flipped and rotated and created a design that would fit on an A2 card front.



Above you can see my first test cut. I had placed a piece of paper on the mat that was a bit larger than I needed to make the cut. When I removed the cut I liked the result and I particularly liked the "leftover" frame piece. So I went back to my file and added a rectangle that would cut the frame to fit an A2 card perfectly.



Here is the second test cut with the resulting "frame" adhered to a plain white card. This makes a very interesting frame design. You can stamp an image in the center, add a cricut cut or decorate it in any way that appeals to you and suits your project.



Above is a photo of the cut I designed adhered to a plain white card. I think this is attractive as it is, but you could also add some flowers, gems or Stickles glitter glue to "dress it up" a bit.



I went back to my frame on the card and decided to add a scalloped rectangle that I cut using the second from the largest die in the Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Rectangles - large set. Then I added the "Congrats" cut from the Cuttlebug die in the "Everyday Greetings"combo set.



As always, I hate to throw anything away... I thought these pieces from inside the cut design looked like butterflies - particularly when you fold the two sides up a bit. So, of course, I saved them...



There are lots of possibilities with this simple design - I'd love to see what you make with it if you download the file.

Fleur-de-lis Filigree Card Topper

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend - our weather here in the Boston area was just perfect today! Sunny and a bit on the cool side - ideal for a cook out.

We had most of the local extended family members over for the afternoon. It was fun to have all the kids here - including the triplets! It was a very busy day, but, after everyone left, I did have a chance to sit down and do my page for this week's digital challenge at FCTSC.

I used nine photos from our family vacation in February, 2008. The boys had so much fun playing at the beach at Sanibel Island - these are just a few of the many photos I took during the week.

I set up photo spots in three sizes and dropped in various beach photos, zooming them to fit the spaces neatly. I used a bright yellow background paper and added the title in red to match the Red Sox hats the boys were wearing. The font is called "Katie."



I added the "bubble" edge to the three largest photos on the diagonal, matted the four smallest in the same color as the font and added a heavy shadow. Then I added a blur edge to the top left and bottom right photos with a light shadow.



This was the first version of the page that I saved but I decided to go back to my original concept of putting one word in each of the "gaps" betwen the photo groupings. I may change my mind again - which is one of the great features of digital - nothing is final until you decide it is ready to print!

Awards - Part Two

As promised, today I am passing along all of the awards that have been sent to me recently. I will try to comply with all of the "rules" but, most importantly, I will share links to some wonderful blogs I know you will enjoy browsing through when you have some time.



First, this Kreativ Blogger award from Heather. Her post says that I should share a few things about myself and pass the award along to seven other bloggers.

A few things about myself - I have shared a lot lately but here are some things you probably don't know. I grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, all of my childhood pets had "human" names (Mark, Rosemary and Coco), our family had a tandem bike (bicycle built for two) which was a lot of fun to ride, my first plane ride was at the age of 16 when my high school Concert Choir went to Germany, and I was once in a promotional movie for the Sears catalog!

Here are the seven blogs I am nominating

1. Sandy from Ukiah

2. Koala-t Kreations

3. Ruelysi Creative Cards

4. I love Pretty Paper

5. The Daily Scrapper

6. Cricut Creations by Amkscrap

7. Diva in Pink's Thoughts and Ideas



This Kreativ Blogger award came from three people - Cindy Lou, Laurinda and Sue. The rules for this award are listed HERE (in the part one post).

I am going to fudge a bit and list one set of "seven things about you people might find interesting" and send the award to the same list of seven blogs in response to all three awards.

Seven Things (totally random):

1. I collect many things (in addition to papercrafting tools and supplies!) - art glass paper weights, green pottery, Santas, enamel boxes, etc., etc.

2. I had never used a PC until a couple of years ago when I got an HP laptop with Windows XP in order to be able to use the Creative Memories software for photo organization (Memory Manager) and digital scrapping (StoryBook Creator Plus). I was happy to have the laptop when Design Studio came out since it was also PC only. I still use my Mac for lots of other things, so I guess I am "bi-lingual" in computers(!)

3. I have two older sisters and a younger brother and we are all four years apart - each born in a leap year (do you think my parents were doing some college planning?)

4. I love to shop at garage sales, antique markets and rummage sales and I always seem to find a "treasure" or two...that's why my house is so full!

5. I love to read - all sorts of books - and I have belonged to some sort of book club for most of my adult life in all of the various places we have lived (we have moved over a dozen times since we were married but are settled now - this summer it will be nine years in one place!)

6. I hate to vacuum - I have never found a machine I like as well as the one I had to leave behind in England when we moved back to the US (due to the different current) - I have four machines of various types and still have a craft room floor covered with paper scraps!

7. I have never been on a cruise but would love to try one someday - maybe for our 30th Anniversary!

Seven Blogs:

1. Creations with Christina

2. Going Buggy

3. Monkey Doodle Cricut

4. BCR8IV

5. It's just me, Heather

6. 100 Things (Maybe More)

7. TeriBeri



Leslie sent this award - once again, you can see the full description of the award HERE.
I need to nominate fifteen blogs for this award...

1. Century Studios

2. The Oz Enthusiast

3. A Concord Carpenter Comments

4. Imagine That

5. Kisatrtle's Kreative Korner

6. Scrappindad's Scribbles

7. Paper Hugs

8. A Place to BE HAPPY

9. Obsessed with Scrapbooking

10. Courtney Lane Designs

11. Paper Creations by Nilda

12. Creative Liberties

13. Scraps 4 Fun

14. Bird Scrap

15. Paper, Scissors, Ink



Brandy sent this award - the rules are posted HERE - for this one I need to nominate five blogs - here they are!

1. Confessions of a Scrapaholic

2. Snowman Lover's Paperie

3. BettyBee's Buzz

4. Busy with the Cricky

5. TLC Design


Etha sent me this award and it is to go to people I think show great attitude and gratitude - here are my nominees.

1. Amy at Scrapping Mommy

2. Dawn at Froggaritaville

3. Brenda at Brens Designs

4. Kay at Clever Someday

5. Narelle at Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Studio





Finally, both of these awards were given to me by Linda - the first one is specifically for five people who follow and comment on your blog. The second one (the "Gift of Love" with the cute little bear) has no particular requirements - you just pass it along to five people. I decided to do what Linda did and give both awards to five people - here are my nominees

1. CrazyMaryNSC

2. Kasey's Kreations

3. Val's Paper Obsession

4. Dropped Stitches

5. Smiles for Everyone

I hope you find the time to go and visit all 44 (!) of the blogs I have nominated - maybe not all in one day but when you have some free time do check them out. There are so many amazing and creative people doing all sorts of things and blogging about them - I am sure your creativity will be stimulated and your knowledge will be enriched by visiting all of these blogs.

(I will notify everyone I sent the awards to tomorrow - so if you see it here before I send you a message I apologize - I spent over four hours putting this post together - I got distracted looking at all the blogs - and I have to get away from the computer now!)

A bit of a preview...

Many people have been asking about the Design Studio online classes. You can get more info about them by visiting Let me Show you How to Do that (just click the name to go to the blog).

JenC and I have taught four "Getting Started" classes in the last two weeks. We will continue to offer these beginner classes, but soon we will be adding some more advanced sessions on how to make your own custom designs. I thought I'd share a few photos of a project I did for a friend's daughter to give you an idea of the types of complicated designs you can make once you have mastered the basics.



I created these standup word cards for her to give as gifts to her friends who were in a special summer camp group - they are called the "Scintillaides" for their sparkling service to the camp.



Here you can see the card flat on the table.



This is a screen shot of the design before cutting.

Designs like this require a lot of planning (and some math!) but they are very effective when cut. Her friends were very impressed when they received these custom cards. So be sure to watch for the sign ups for the next level of classes - we have lots of things to show you!


(Our older son and his girlfriend arrived today from San Francisco to visit for a few days, so I did not get a chance to complete the awards posting I started yesterday - I will find some quiet time tomorrow to finish that up - be prepared to spend some time blog hopping to visit all the people I am passing awards along to!)

Catching up - Awards and Thanks (part one)

I have been very delinquent in acknowledging and thanking a number of people for the blog awards they have sent to me. I never seem to have the time to do them justice and post all the answers and links, etc.

I actually won't be able to complete all the rules tonight - my day took an unexpected turn when I had to get to the doctor for some follow up on blood work - turns out I am severely anemic (which explains why I have been having so much trouble summoning the energy to do all the projects I have lined up!). I have started on lots of iron and hope that things will balance out soon, but it was a bit disconcerting to hear "the doctor wants you to be seen today!" on my answering machine this morning. I had planned to do this post today but there are only so many hours in the day so I'll have to split it into two parts...





Heather gave me this Kreativ Blogger award - Check out her blog HERE - she has lots of layouts and cards to inspire you (and two adorable kids!). Thanks Heather!

As part of the Kreativ Blogger award I am supposed to share a few things about myself and pass the award along to 7 fellow bloggers. I will be back to complete this soon.

Three people (!) gave me this "Kreative Blogger" award. Many thanks to all of you!

Cindy Lou - Check out her blog HERE to see lots of great projects - if you are a tear bear fan you won't want to miss this!

Laurinda - Check out her blog HERE - she is always coming up with great projects and does so much to help other Cricut lovers with the Design Studio.

Sue - Check out her blog HERE - she has lots of nice flower cards and adorable inchies to inspire you!

Here are the RULES for this AWARD:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.



Leslie gave me this "Premio Dardos" award quite a while ago but we had some trouble connecting so I could find out what I should do. She is part of a group called "Five Scribes" and you can check out their blog HERE - Leslie writes screenplays, along with several other jobs and her Cricut addiction. Thanks Leslie for this honor!

Here is some information about this award:

This award 'acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message they write.'
Awards like this have been created with the intention of promoting community among Bloggers. It's a way to show appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."
Here are the rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted it to you, along with his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to (15) other blogs that you feel are worthy of this recognition. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen as recipients.




Brandy gave me this award quite a while ago - somehow I missed it and just found an unpublished comment so I want to acknowledge it now. You can visit her blog HERE - lots of great ATCs and tags!

Here are the rules for this award:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

This award is from Etha - you can check out her blog HERE - there are lots of great projects and some clever organizing tips.

This award goes to people who you feel show great attitude & gratitude.





Linda F gave me both of these awards - you can find her blog HERE to see lots of lovely watercolor that she uses for cards. Thanks so much Linda for the honor.

The first award was originated by Kellie Winnell. Kellie started this award to thank all of the people who follow and comment on your blog. This should be passed on to 5 people. The second award is The Gift of Love Award. There are no specifics for this award you just need to give it to 5 people.

Whew - I think that is enough awards for a while!

It is late and I need to get some sleep (!) so I will try to edit this post and add award recipients tomorrow or sometime over the weekend. I hope that I have caught up and acknowledged all the awards that have been sent - at times my email can be fairly overwhelming and things move down the list too quickly - I am trying to do better with "triage" when I first see a message(!)

Thanks to everyone who liked my blog enough to send an award - it is good to feel appreciated.