An Interesting Card (and some enabling...)

When we were in San Francisco last week I found this card in a store in Japan Town.  I love visiting Japan Town because I always find interesting items and papercrafts there.  The basic concept of this card is something I want to try (on a more simplified level...).

The card is a tri fold card with the intricate lace cut folded back over a colorful printed panel to form the card front.

 

This cut is extremely delicate and very beautiful.  I'd have to start with something a bit simpler!

This is the reverse side of the cut - the marks make me think it was cut with a laser.

 The printed portion is interesting - the image is designed to work with or without the overlay.  The overlay turns one of the flying birds into a mountaintop and conceals most of the rest of the birds.

It will be fun to try to make a design that works like this though I may need to piece the sections together.

I am up to my elbows in projects for my Peachy Keen Guest Designer stint next week but I do have a few offers that I wanted to be sure to let you know about - so if you want to avoid enabling, stop reading here!



New from Lettering Delights

Lettering Delights is offering a new cutting file series with files in many formats (ai, dxf, eps, gsd, jpg, pdf and svg) to work with a variety of electronic die cutting machines.  The initial offering is a super bundle which would normally sell for $150 for the bundle ($4 per individual set at regular prices). For two weeks, this is offered at a special price of $49.  This bundle has 50 sets with at least 15 items in each set.  You can save even more by using the coupon code for 25% off  that will appear in your confirmation email when you add this week's freebie to your Lettering Delights library.  Choose "Promotions" and then "freebies" and then "bonus freebies" to add the latest freebies to your cart.  Please click on the affiliate image link above or in the left side bar to visit the site.  Click on What's New at the top of the page to find the new super bundle.

I recently bought a Silhouette SD machine to further extend my die cutting abilities.  This machine allows me to create completely original designs.  I'll be telling you more about it soon and I think you will be amazed at the intricate cuts I have been making.  I was very happy to see that the .dxf format is included in these new Lettering Delights files so I will be able to cut them directly from the Silhouette Studio software.

Creative Memories cartridges...

Are you interested in purchasing any of the first three Creative Memories Cricut cartridges (Reminisce Accents, Cheerful Seasons, Stork's Delivery)?  They are on sale for $49.95 (usually $55) until the end of June.  Click HERE to go to the Cricut page on my Creative Memories personal website.  The new Traveler cartridge won't be available until July 1st. (Edited to add - for those of you who receive the email feed all of the coupon codes are gone - I only had a few to offer).

Creative Charms

Don't forget to check out the special weekend deal at Creative Charms and to sign up for a chance to win a free Deal of the Month package - see the details HERE.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we are crossing our fingers for the rain to stay away!

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Cheery Strawberry Card

It all started with the strawberries...  These knitted strawberries are one of my favorite items from Creative Charms and when I saw the paper (Garden Variety by Cosmo Cricket) I knew they needed to be together.

The paper I had was six by six inch squares and I wanted to make a five by seven inch card.  As you can see - this paper is not big enough to make a conventional layer, however, there is a little trick you can play to make this work.  The strawberry paper above is cut to six inches by four and one half inches.

Simply slice the paper at about one and one quarter inches from the short end and move the two pieces into position on the card.  The card base is kraft cardstock.

I decided to add a red lower mat (cut at 4 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches).  You could stop here, but I chose to add a layer to hide the divided strawberry paper.

My first plan was to use the red and white polka dot paper as the coordinating layer.  I thought it looked passable for the strip of paper but the words were lost.  The "For You' is from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge (this cartridge is only in the Gypsy so you would need to have a Gypsy to cut it - you could use a different phrase from a different cartridge if you don't have a Gypsy).

First I tried changing the top layer of the words to the same green as the medallions but I didn't think there was enough contrast.

So, third time is the charm as they say and I finally decided to change both the strip that hides the gap in the paper and the top layer of the sentiment to this lively yellow floral paper.

The small medallions were cut with the Spellbinders "Lacey Circles" dies.  I still like using metal dies to get perfect shapes with the slightly rounded edge that only a die will produce.  The smaller circle is adhered with foam dots centered on the larger scalloped lacey circle medallion.

The base medallion was cut from some dark green Cor'edinations textured carstock and it is also raised with some foam dots.

The double layering and the berries themselves make this a very thick card so I would plan to hand deliver the card when I used it.  It would be a nice "welcome to the neighborhood" card if it was delivered with some strawberry treats!

Creative Charms has a special weekend deal for you.  First, blog candy is back on the Creative Charms blog so you can visit and follow the Creative Charms blog and leave a comment on the post HERE (on the Creative Charms blog not my blog) to have a chance to win a free deal of the month for June.

Creative Charms has also packed up a great deal for this weekend only. The amber marble vintage brads, blue marble vintage brads and grey pearl vintage brads together are 50% off. That is 27 brads for only $5.25. Grab your Vintage Brad Sale right away and remember - the Simplicity items are all still on sale at 70% off HERE.

Is it cold where you are? The weather here has been quite chilly and rainy for several days - naturally it started raining right as the carpenters were taking off a big section of our house to frame in the repair and addition.  Fingers crossed for a nicer weekend.  If it rains we will just have to focus on indoor jobs and there are plenty of them to go around!

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A Circle of Cricut Friends (and even more new cartridges)

On Thursday I hosted a small group of Cricut enthusiasts for a get together here in Concord.  Two Cricut Circle members from Minnesota posted on the message board a few weeks ago asking if there were any Circle members in the Boston area because they would be in the area for an extended visit with family.

Some people from New Hampshire responded and, since I live midway between NH and the area the Minnesota folks were visiting, I offered to have the group meet here for coffee and then go on for more adventures in shopping and sightseeing(!).  We lost a few people to illness or work schedules so we were a small but lively band, just ask the people at the LSS (local scrap shop) that we went to!

Nancy, Renee, Kelly, Tina (back row)  Sheryl, Diane, Mary (front row)

I put my little Cricut plushie in the wreath on the door to signal that they were at the right house.  We are having work done and I "bribed" one of the carpenters with some of the fabulous gateau that Renee brought and he took photos of our group on the front steps.

We had coffee and treats (thanks again to Renee for baking and Nancy for bringing the fruit!) and then we headed out in the rain to visit a nearby shop called "Ink About It."  We found some great bargains - the store had a yard sale a week or so ago and they had some rubber stamps on clearance for $1 - how can anyone resist that?  I was able to find a few things (at regular prices) that I have been wanting to try - particularly the honeycomb paper for making fun pop-ups inside your cards (from Inky Antics) and a large La Blanche stamp (I saw these at CHA and wrote about them HERE).

We were worn out from shopping so the next stop was a local sandwich shop and ice cream stand.  I didn't bring my camera and forgot my phone so I don't have a photo of the "kiddie" cones we ate.  The girl working at the stand described it as a "softball sized scoop" - it was delicious! (I'll add a photo if one of my new friends sends it to me).

Tina and Mary with their Imagine printed pages

We did a quick "drive by" tour of some historic sites in Concord (it was getting late and it was pouring rain) and then came back to my house for some crafty time.  We made flowers using the Cuttlebug quilling sets (no one but me had used these before) and then Sheryl and I showed Mary and Tina the Imagine.  I think we may have convinced them that they "need" this machine.  We printed a few full page images - one from Nursery Tails and one from Snow Angel.  Tina also made a pirate from Buccaneer.

I think the pirate looks great on this winter page!

I had a wonderful time and I think everyone else also enjoyed the day.  To me, this is the sort of thing the Circle should be about.  The first year is almost over and while there were some start up issues (and there are still some things that need to be improved or added) I think the Circle is getting closer to what I thought it would be.  The cartridges this first year were not all to my taste but there are many other aspects to be considered as part of the membership.

I hope that in the coming year more can be done to facilitate small groups getting together informally.  It is always nice to spend time with people who enjoy doing the same things that you like to do.  There could be a lot of opportunities for local groups to meet and share without having a formal, organized event with a lot of extra costs involved.  It is also a nice way to teach each other to use all of our machines and tools. 

I am looking forward to getting together with the "local" people again - thanks to Mary and Tina who came all the way from Minnesota to motivate us to get together! 

More cartridges -

Eight more Cricut cartridges were announced on Thursday.  Here is a LINK to the announcement page.  There were no look books listed yet but they may be coming.

Four are "Events" cartridges with a "soup to nuts" set of items for throwing a theme party (invitations, decorations, favors, etc.)

Girl's Makeup Party

Princess Party
Robot Party
Space Party

and four are "Project" cartridges and cut everything you need to make certain types of projects. 

Sweet Tooth Boxes

Word Collage
Fancy Frames
Flower Shoppe

These carts have limited and specialized content but will be quite useful for some people.  The one I am most interested in is the Flower Shoppe.  It contains a number of flowers that you form by twirling a spiral - similar to the files I designed after seeing the DCWV roses at CHA in January (you can see those HERE).  I was curious to see what the pricing would be for these cartridges since they do not contain very much content and saw that they are listed on the Cricut.com site for $29.99.  Terri at Stamps Alive is offering them for $20.95 and she is great to deal with.
 
You can see images of these cartridges and projects made using them on the Official Cricut Blog HERE.

There are more projects on the "Hello Thursday" blogs - here are some links for you

 Joy's blog

Melanie's blog

Robyn's blog

Tammy's blog 

Mixology Crafts


I have lots to do today to get ready for my Peachy Keen Guest Designer week - it starts Monday!  You won't want to miss the great set that Peachy Keen gave me to give away to one lucky person.


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Hello Friend (and the last Hello Thursday for June)

Today is the last "Hello Thursday" for the month of June.  I was able to see this group of cartridges on the Cricut Circle blog yesterday (one of the perks of membership in the Cricut Circle).  I will add more information to my blog once the cartridges have been "officially" released.  You will be able to find out more about them sometime today on the Official Cricut Blog HERE and see lots of projects on the "Hello Thursday" blogs.  

Are you feeling a bit of cartridge overload?  I know I am!  Fortunately there was a wide variety of cartridge types offered this month.  Different cartridges will appeal to different people so you probably won't "need" them all (unless you are a true collector - with deep pockets!).  It's a funny coincidence that the card I am writing about today is also a "Hello" card...

For this card, I used some great felt flowers from Creative Charms.  This set was part of the Kit of the Month for June which is still available through the end of the month.  The felt flowers also come in other colors and you can see them HERE.

 

I decided to use some felt I had in my stash to make a felt frame for the card.  Some people have cut stiffened felt successfully with the Cricut but I decided that my felt was too loosely matted for this to be successful so I use a Sizzix die to cut the frame.    I wanted the frame and flowers to stand out but the plain white card was a bit too boring so I added another white layer (cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches) and embossed it with the "Polka Dot" Cuttlebug folder.

I used Scor-Tape to adhere the frame to the embossed cardstock.  This adhesive is ideal for a strong hold on difficult surfaces and won't show through on fabric.

I tried cutting my sentiment from the same felt with the Cuttlebug "Friends Forever" combo set die.  The die cut the felt easily but the thin lines of the words were too fragile for the thin felt and the cut disintegrated when I tried to lift it up.  

I decided to go ahead and cut the sentiment from DCWV glitter cardstock in bright pink to match the flower centers.

The end result is a cheerful little card that you could send to a crafty friend, knowing that he or she would probably "harvest" the felt flower embellishments to reuse on another project!

A few notes...

Several people wrote to me about using the acrylic box frames as trays for stamps - here is a LINK to the post where I have a little more information and another photo of this system.

If you haven't checked out the Cricut Rewards site lately you might want to click HERE to see what is new.  They have added lots of new things lately including some Cuttlebug folders, cutting mats, ink cartridges for the Imagine, printable vinyl and cartridges.  You do have to pay shipping and handling, so it is a good idea to try to order several things at once to distribute those costs.  If you redeem the rewards for any Cricut Lite cartridges this month you will be given double points (100 instead of 50) so check to see if you have any unregistered certificates. 

I am having a little get together here today with some Cricut Circle members who are visiting Massachusetts from Minnesota and some "local" crafters from the surrounding states.  I will be sure to post a photo or two of our group.  Part of the fun of crafting is sharing your passion with others who enjoy the same things.  Some of my "real life" friends don't really "get" why I like to cut up paper so much (but they put up with me in spite of it!)

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Decorative Initial Block Frame

This is a quick and simple project that makes a nice "little gift" for any occasion.  It is also a great way to recycle some old acrylic box frames that are still in good condition.

This type of frame can often be found at rummage sales and yard sales.  I bought this entire box full of frames this year for 25 cents to a dollar each.  The frames are also readily available new at craft and discount stores.

If you find these frames in the larger sizes and they are too scratched up to use as frames they make great "drawers" to hold your wood mounted stamps.

I cut pieces of cardstock from the DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl mat stack, measuring them to fit the top and sides exactly.  The "K" is from the Storybook Cricut cartridge.

I had intended to have the side pieces inside the frame, however, I discovered that they made the insert too thick to fit in the rigid plastic box.  So I adhered them to the outer edges.  This is a decorative piece and not meant to be handled a lot so they will be fine on the outside.

Here is a closer view of the top edge.  The side cardstock and the initial are smooth and the floral background is a glittered cardstock.

A ribbon tied around the box looks pretty and serves as a reinforcement for the edge pieces to stay put.  O tied a knot at the top to prevent the bow from coming undone too easily and then tied a fussy bow.

 Here is the box frame with the tied and trimmed bow.  It is fine like this but I thought some added bling would make it seem more special and look nice sitting on a shelf and catching the light.

I added two sizes of the green gradient gem stickers from Creative Charms to the strong left side of the "K" in an alternating pattern.

This will look very cute and girly sitting on 13 year old "K's" shelf - I hope she likes it!

This sort of project is easy to make and easy to personalize for anyone.  Most people seem to like gifts that are made with personalization that makes the gift unique to them.  If you have a lot of frames, you could also spell out an entire name or word.

Our construction project started on Tuesday so I am going to have some challenges in making my projects and posting on my blog.  It is exciting to have things happening - I just have to get more done on the inside!

Happy first full day of Summer - the kids in our town still have school until Friday - I am sure they are ready to leave and start vacationing!

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