Halloween Treat Holder

This simple pumpkin candy holder is quick and easy to make.  You can change the pumpkin to another design for Halloween or any other holiday.  I used A Child's Year for the file but you can use different cartridges by substituting similar shapes for those in the file.

After you cut the base, you need to score 1/2 inch from the edges of the long center rectangle.

Then turn the paper and score 1 1/2 inches from the ends (from the pumpkin base to the pumpkin base).  Fold along all of the score lines, using a bone folder to make the folds neat and crisp.

Cut along the second scored lines to the first scored lines to create the flaps.

I actually made two files - one with a thin base of one inch and one with a two inch base for more candy!   The file with the one inch base has the area between the stem and the pumpkin blacked out - if you want the more open look you need to change that file by left clicking on the hidden contour line and then right clicking and selecting "show selected contour" from the bottom of the pop up box.

On the second page of the file are the layers for the jack o'lantern faces.  When I tried them out they looked a bit plain...

...but some Stickles on the stems and leaves took care of that!

After the flaps are cut, apply adhesive to the tabs, fold up and adhere to the pumpkin sides.

 

When the Stickles are dry, you can apply the pumpkins to the base.  Put the adhesive on the back of the pumpkin so you can make sure that no adhesive will show.

 

Here is a view looking down into the assembled candy holder with the two inch base.

Have fun making these!

Pumpkin candy holder (1 inch)

Pumpkin candy holder (2 inch)

Just a little inspiration...

I don't always have enough time to do a lot of browsing and reading of other blogs, however, when I do, I am always inspired and amazed at all the creative talent out there!  You may remember that in August I wrote about my first order from Papertrey Ink (here is a LINK to that post).  I signed up for their newsletters and today I received an email that led me to the blog of Michelle Wooderson who is a  member of the Papertrey Ink Senior Design Team.  She was writing about her color inspiration for the upcoming holiday season - red and cream and, in her words, "that total Nordic look."  Here is a link to her blog Mish Mash  so you can read what she posted - just beautiful! 

Later today, I had a request from a reader for some help with figuring out how to weld something on the Gypsy.  I pulled out the Gypsy and started making a trial design so I could describe the steps needed in writing my answer and realized after I was done that I must have had Michelle's post in my mind - I even used red paper to test the cut!

I used four of these tree or branch images from Gypsy Wanderings - three were rotated so I could put them all together to form a central motif that looks rather Nordic to me(!)

I added four flowers and fit them into the quadrants formed by the branches.

Here is a screen shot showing the motifs at a size you can see.

 Some of the keypads in Design Studio have teeny tiny icons but when you hover with your mouse over the key the icon appears much larger.  There is also a feature that highlights the exact key that corresponds to the image on the mat.

To check on the source of any image in Design Studio you can select the image by left clicking on a line of the image and then right click.  Then in the pop up box click on the "Show Cartridge XXX" and the exact combination of keys needed for that shape or letter will be highlighted in green on the virtual keypad.  I hope that a feature like this is added to the Gypsy - it is very handy.

I had to fight my instincts to flip and weld to make the design more symmetrical,  Right now, if you try to weld a flipped shape with a shape that isn't flipped, the weld will not work on the Gypsy.  My temporary fix is to simply rotate the components of the design.  When the item is close to symmetrical (as in the tree branches) the effect is nearly the same as flipping.  The flowers are not symmetrical so the resulting design is also asymmetrical - but I still like it!

I will make something (probably a card) with this design.  One advantage on making it on the Gypsy is that I can now cut more of these designs in different sizes by duplicating the grouped image and then resizing - this is a feature that I have been very eagerly awaiting to be added to Design Studio.

I am very happy to know that Provo Craft is working towards "design parity" between the two software tools they have made available to use in working with the Cricut.  To have the same basic features available to use with my computer or on the go with the Gypsy will be great!

(I realized after I took the photos and uploaded them that I hadn't popped the tiny centers out of three of the flowers - they are out now and look even cuter!)

Dress ATCs (and a Gypsy Update)

 My second ATC swap group had the theme "Dress" for the month of October.  This group varies in size each month and there were six of us participating for this theme.

 I used paper from the DCWV "Crafty" stack.  This paper has a linen-like textured finish.  The designs have an old fashioned feel and many feature sewing motifs, including one with little scissors and one with sewing machines.  I bought this at Jo-Ann's a month or two ago and hadn't had a chance to use any of it until now.

I particularly liked the papers with buttons - there are a couple of colorways of the same design.  The lighter color background that I used for the base of the card was from a stripe on one of the 12 x 12 sheets.  The group of six ATCs was photographed on the button paper with a red background.

I added two layers of ribbon  layered on the button paper.  I then cut heavy watercolor paper to ATC size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) and sandwiched them together to hide the tails of the ribbons. I hand wrote the information on the backs.

The little "dresses" were made using the third from the smallest die from the large petite scalloped circles Nestabilities set.  I cut away wedges on each side, wrapped the "waist" with ribbon, and added Stickles across the "bodice."  The dresses are adhered with foam squares for a dimensional effect.

I have quite a collection of ATCs from the swaps I  have participated in - some are neatly organized in a binder in baseball card page protectors and some need a "home" beyond the box they are sitting in right now.  My friend Kay hosted this swap this month - she is a fabulously creative person and always makes incredible ATCs - and then puts us all to shame with her clever ways of saving and displaying the cards.  You should click this LINK to see the adorable book she made to hold this set.  Fair Warning - once you get started looking at Kay's blog you will have a hard time leaving - enjoy her work and leave her some comments!


On a completely different topic...I am not sure how many of the people who read my blog regularly also read the Cricut.com message board so I thought I would give you this update about the Gypsy that I posted to the message board last night.  If you don't read the message board - here is a LINK to the site. The Board is a great source of up to the minute information about all things Cricut and you can read without posting (lurk) if you are a shy person.

I hope that there will be at least a partial update to the Gypsy software available in the next few days but there are many factors that enter into the decision to release these updates.  I do believe that Provo Craft is moving ahead as quickly as they can to make the improvements needed and that they are keenly aware of the need to deliver the functionality that was expected to be available at the intitial release date.  Here is my post:

I wanted to let you all know that I had a lengthy conversation with several people from Provo Craft today, including Matt Strong who is the Director of Product Development.

We talked about many of the issues with the Gypsy and Design Studio, including the frustrations that many of us have been having with features that are not yet working.

Matt told me that all of the known welding issues have been fixed and they are still wrestling with the file transfer/compatibility between Gypsy and Design Studio.  Apparently it was working and then final testing revealed problems that they have been trying to resolve.  He said they have about 70% success with the transfer but want to have it working as perfectly as possible before releasing an update.

Fixing all of these problem is their #1 priority right now - he told me there were 12 people working on it and testing the fixes.

I strongly suggested that it would be a good idea to release an update with the welding fixes and other changes if the file transfer is not fully functional yet - this would show everyone that it is being worked on constantly.  I also stressed that communication is a key issue - if people know what is going on - even if a date certain for the release can't be given - it will go a long way to creating happier Gypsy users.

Matt said that the updates include other fixes including being able to move large groups of items more smoothly and to zoom while in preview - previews are also building much more quickly (one of the problems I have mentioned before).  There is also a completely new keyword database and better functionality in the search feature.

Some news that I am very excited about is that Matt confirmed that grouping will be added to Design Studio - the goal and intention is to have complete "design parity" between the two programs (so "hide selected contour" would be available on the Gypsy too)

I am going to be tied up teaching a class for the next couple of hours but I will come back to the board later this evening if you have more questions - I don't know if I can answer them all but I will collect them and communicate them to Matt and his team.

If I learn any more about the updates I will pass along the information.  Be sure to watch the message board for any official statements about the release of updates.  If you have problems or suggestions that you would like me to pass along, please leave a comment or send me an email at capadiadesigns@gmail.com and I will consolidate the requests and send them along to the Product Development team.

ATC - Something About Me...

The theme for one of my ATC (artist trading card) groups this month was "a design that tells something about you....a hobby, a love, your job, etc."  Well, that was pretty open ended!  I hadn't done a purely digital card for a while so I looked through my photos and found my idea!

While we were at the family apple farm earlier this month there was a lot of rain overnight but the next day was lovely and sunny.

My husband's grandparents had a rose garden that his family now maintains and there were still lots of blooms.

I took some photos of the roses, and I loved the effect of the "raindrops on roses" (I apologize in advance for putting Julie Andrews singing My Favorite Things in The Sound of Music into your head - it stayed with me all day!).

Two of my favorite things ( I have many more than two!) are flowers and photography - and that is "something about me."

This was my original photo - I did some cropping and editing before I imported it into my CM Storybook Creator Plus software.

 Here is the edited photo.

Using my CM software, I added just a bit of text and selected the color by sampling the rose in the photo - here is a close view of the lower right corner of the final ATC.

I always like to see how the group looks before I package the cards up to send - there is usually an interesting secondary pattern from the individual cards set in a grid.

The backs were also done digitally (as I usually do them).  I used a Creative Memories digital paper from the "Cottage Garden" collection - in my favorite shades of teal/blue/green.  As always, my two sides did not match up perfectly, even though I was convinced I cut them both at 2.5 by 3.5 inches!   Fortunately this is easily fixed with some inking - and it is the back after all!

What are some of your favorite things?

Happy Halloween (oldies but goodies)

I had another plan for today's post but I have had several people asking about the Halloween design I did last year that was featured in the Cricut Chirp.

There are a lot of new people who are reading and following my blog.  With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to be sure you knew about these designs so you could use them for decorations  (if you like them).

This version will work on a baby bug or Create - The design is redone in two sections to be used separately or put together for a full sheet.

This version was redone using the Alphalicious font - the post explains how to substitute whatever font you like so you can cut the design.  The posts go into a lot of detail about the specifics of cutting  - these do take a long while to cut and you have to be patient in removing all of the smaller bits, but the effect is worth it in the end.

If you click this LINK you will see all of the posts with a "Halloween" label - scroll to the bottom and work your way forward to read about the Halloween mesh and the lanterns (and a few other designs).  There are links to the files in each post.  I recently moved the mesh designs to 4shared - they had been downloaded over 3000 times at the prior site (so I know somebody likes them!).

I moved the Pumpkin Picking and Ghost Fence designs to 4shared tonight - they are both adjustable designs.

Let me know if you have any questions about these designs.  if you have used them for your decorations or scrapbooks I'd love to see how they turned out!