Celebrate card - dusting off my Cricut Imagine

So I have a renewed interest in playing with my Cricut Imagine eversince the HSN E2 launch when the E2 sold out and Jinger Adams had to showcase the Cricut Imagine at a special price - way less than I paid for mine a year ago (yes, bought it at launch since I am such a sucker for the newest Provo Craft stuff!).  I haven't used my Imagine machine for several months now and since it has been moved around too much in my endless quest to organize my craft stuff, it needed to be updated and calibrated after dusting it off ;).  I will not go in too much on how painful it is to update and recalibrated - I'm sure fellow Imagine users know what I'm talking about.  Don't get me wrong, I love this machine and it's possibilities.

Today's card is an A2 size card and is project #5 for Using My Stash pledge at CC MB.  The base of my card is actually a clear craft plastic by Recollections I bought from Michaels a while back.  I used some of this clear craft plastic for my HSN banner entries and have more leftovers. 

Here's a little sideview of the card.

The double-sided printed cardstock is from an old 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 K&C stack I have had for ages, cut smaller than the base.  I embossed the front bottom of the card with one of the border CB folders I have not used in a long while, called Organic Flourish (there are actually 5 borders in this set - I am loving the embossed look on clear craft plastic and will definitely do more projects this way!)  I then centered the printed cardstock where I want it behind the clear craft plastic.  I wanted the printed cardstock to stay in place but didn't want to use tape as it would show through the clear craft plastic so I had to be creative.  I saw a beautiful bow in JaniceA's (thanks for the inspiration, Janice!) blog when she made a card for her granddaughter and have been wanting to try to make one and thought this type of bow would be perfect to hold the cardstock and the clear craft plastic together without using glue or tape!   I used a Provo Craft eyelet setter (bought it on eBay almost a year and a half ago) for the two holes to thread my ribbon through (see pic below to get an idea of how this eyelet setter looks like). 

To keep the printed cardstock in place while I punch the holes, I used painter's tape.  

 I then attached a cream colored cardstock inside to hide the back of the bow.  I used one of MS corner punchers to decorate the cardstock before I adhered it to the card. 

The last thing I did was to finish decorating the front of the card.  The butterfly image with layers were from Lori's Garden (all layers foam-mounted).  The sentiment "Celebrate" is a stamp from Close To My Heart.  The cut image where the sentiment is stamped on is from one of the preloaded images on the Imagine machine, flood-filled with art from Imagine More Cards.  I finished off the card with 3 yellow-green irock gems.  I didn't want tape to show through the clear craft plastic so I ran the Imagine cuts through my Xyron 900 - as you can see from the pic below the images have a much cleaner appearance than if I had used my tape gun. 

And here's another look at the finished card.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting! 





Tea-rific!

Today's card is again from my stash and is my project #4 for the Using My Stash pledge over at the CC MB.  This is for nobody in particular, just replenishing my stash of cards. 

The base of the card is from Damask Decor.  Then I cut the teapot layer 2x and foam mounted them onto the base for added dimension.  I also inked and embossed the top layer with Plum Blossom CB folder.   The 3D flower is cut from the Flower Shoppe cart; I added the craft pearl in the middle.  The leaves were cut freestyle but I think it works ;).   I added some Ranger glossy accents for the faux dew drops effect.    The sentiment is computer generated then cut to size using an old Fiskars scissors.  The teabag image was cut freestyle as well (I'm sure there's probably a Cricut image for a teabag, I was just too lazy to look!).   Jute twine was used to attach the teabag image onto the teapot handle. 



I added a piece of moss green cardstock inside the card and a strip of the same printed cardstock as the base for the inside bottom.  The strip was punched with a lacy MS puncher.  To finish it off I added 3 pink half pearls. 

BTW that was some Cricut "party" yesterday, huh?  Neither one of my banners won for the HSN E2 launch, but that was ok because there were so much more deserving winning banners.   I am in awe of some very talented Cricut users - such inspiration!  My consolation was that at least one of my banners got TV "face time" on HSN (the ornament one) - my kids were so excited when we watched it on DVR.  Although I already have the E2 Anniversary Edition I think my husband would have bought me another E2 because of Jinger; it was the way he asked me "do you already have that one?" while Jinger was holding the cork board containing one of my banners......men!  That's ok though, I'll just tuck that little tidbit of information for use later - I'm sure I'd again want something PC-related on HSN that Jinger would most likely be showcasing LOL!     

That's it for me for today, hope everyone has an awesome day!  I thank you again for stopping by! 



Butterfly Award - thanks Brenda!

I would like to thank Brenda over at Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker for passing on this blog award to me on September 9th - you are so sweet!  Sorry it took me a while to pass this along....

To accept the award, I must answer the following questions and then pass the award on to 10 other blogs.

1. Name my favorite color - Purple
2. Name my favorite song - at the moment it's "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry but the Sam Tsui version
3. Name my favorite dessert - vanilla ice cream over hot apple pie
4. What 'wizzes' me off at the moment? - bills, bills bills!
5. My favorite pet - I've always been a dog person
6. Black or white? - both, they go well together.
7. Biggest fear - Not being around for my family
8. Best feature - My hair
9. Everyday attitude - Carpe Diem
10. What is perfection? - looking at my family
11. Guilty pleasure - a bag of M&Ms
12. When I am upset I... - grab a book and read! 

Now I am gladly passing this on to the following bloggers, in no particular order:

Renee @ icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

JaniceA @ janiceaeschliman.blogspot.com

Gloria @ girliascards.blogspot.com

Mary @ cardztv.blogspot.com

Enfys @ going-buggy.blogspot.com

Tanya @ nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com

Nadia @ withglitteringeyes.blogspot.com

Dayna @ sabrioletdesigns.blogspot.com

Linda @ paperboutique.blogspot.com

Carolyn @ cccscraproom.blogspot.com

Have a great week ahead of you my crafty bloggers! 



Gift tag card

Happy Friday!  Today's project is a card I made for one of my nieces who turns 6 this weekend.  Actually it has become a card-turned-into-a-gifttag.   Well I didn't mean for it to be a gift tag but with the 3D flower added to it, it would have been tough to fit it in ANY envelope, even if I had to make one.  Either way I'm happy at how it turned out.  And best of all, I was again able to use supplies from my stash so this is project #3 for me for the Using My Stash pledge over at the CC MB!  I've been really proud of myself - went grocery shopping at a Smart and Final yesterday next to a Michaels and I didn't even go in!  I heard (LOL) the clearance bins outside Michaels calling for me and I held my own! 

Another look at the gift tag card.

Details:

*base card is made out of 2 of the same present images from Create a Critter cart, welded together

*with the same image as the base, cut one in printed paper (from a very old K&C 6x6 stack), then the top layer embossed with Plum Blossoms CB folder

*"Happy Birthday" cut from MS Elegant Cake Art. top layer embossed with Swiss Dots CB folder

*3D flower from CTMH Art Philosophy cart with craft pearl

*irock gems

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend ahead of you! 

Ah, heck late again!

I am such a bad Aunt :( !  Completely forgot to give one of my dear nephews a gift on his 9th birthday.....are you ready for this?  Back in May!!!  So to make it up to him I am including a big fat Target gift card in this gift box I made - to help fund a new DS game.  He'll forgive me - not because of the big fat gift card but because I'm still his favorite Aunt ;p hahaha! 

I created the base of the box to hold the gift card from the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cart.  The pirate hat and layers are from the Boys Will Be Boys cart.  The palm tree and the treasure map are from Paper Doll Dress Up cart.  The pirate ship is from the Wrap it Up cart.  The base of the tag attached with a black tulle was cut from TBBM.  I welded the anchor and the steering wheel cuts onto the base and then cut them out separately in white cardstock - they are from Life is a Beach cart.  

 

BTW this is my project #2 for Using My Stash pledge over at the CC MB.  I am also entering this in the Bitten By the Bug2 challenge using TBBM cart, as well as the Fantabulous Cricut challenge with the pirate theme. 

Hope you like and thanks for looking!  

E2 HSN Launch Banner Entry #2 - Ornament Banner

Hello there again!  Today I'm sharing my second banner for the E2 HSN Launch banner contest.  For the details of the contest, please see my post yesterday, below this one.  I call this banner my Ornament Banner but my 6 year old really wants to call it the Jingle Banner because, well....each piece actually jingles when you shake it LOL because of the little bells attached to it - but I will get to that later.

The base for each piece came from the ornament image from the exclusive CTMH Art Philosophy cart.  I used hide contour on my G to hide the cuts on the upper part of the top layer because I knew that part was going to be covered by the ribbon anyway.  The bottom layer was cut once in printed cardstock and the other cut in plain light blue cardstock, just so I can have  thicker pennat pieces to work with. 

I also attached a small piece of craft plastic in between the two bottom layers to make them stronger and not tear when I finally hang them.  For this plastic piece I offset the image in my G so that only the top parts of the ornaments get cut.

After attaching the piece of clear plastic to the light blue layer, I attached the printed layer over, again for added strenght so that the paper won't tear when attached to the banner. 

I used the the font from the MS All Occasions Cake Art cart to spell out "Cricut".  Each letter has 3 shadow layers under the top layer to give it more dimension.   I used foam mounts in between.   Then I attached half pearls to embellish the letters. 

The top ornament layer is embellished with some irock gems, different color for each pennant piece.  I inserted a piece of gold shimmery cardstock to show through the bottom part of the ornament top layer, then I attached a 3D flower from the CTMH Art Philosophy cart.  There's also a craft pearl in each 3D flower.

For the top of the ornament, I tied a wired ribbon.  And since I can't really make a decent bow half the time I knew I needed to cover up the middle part LOL! 

I just tied a knot instead of killing myself trying to make a pretty bow ;)

To cover up the ribbon knot, I used a snowflake image from the MS All Occasions Cake Art (used hide contour for the center of the image).  I used a white glittered paper for this cut.  I then poked a hole in the center using a Cricut tool (the one that looks like a dental scraper). 

Then I threaded 3 small bells using jute twine and threaded that through the hole in the snowflake image. I tied the back of the snowflake in the front of the ugly ribbon knot. 

There you go - it nicely covered up the ugly ribbon knot, don't you think?  Plus each pennant jingles when you shake it ;).   I finished off each pennant piece with a red tulle to hold it in place.  And I almost forgot to mention that I inked each top layer for added dimension. 

Here's another shout out of one of the pennants. 

Thanks for stopping by and again, good luck to all who have sent in their banners! 

 I actually had fun doing the banners, win or lose.  I've also seen some very wonderful banner creations from fellow bloggers and all over the Cricut MBs - sooooo excited! 

 I would hate to be the one judging each banner as they are all so stunning!

"See" you all next time - happy crafting! 

E2 HSN Launch Banner Entry #1 - Gothic Cricut Banner

Well hello there!  By now, everyone in the Cricut world knows that Cricut is launching its E2 machine on HSN on September 26th.  If you haven't yet heard the news, here's  an excerpt from Cricut:



CRICUT EXPRESSION 2 DESIGN CHALLENGE
On September 26^th at 12:01 AM EST Provo Craft will launch the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN. We want everyone to join in the fun by designing a pennant banner for a chance to be one of FIVE lucky people to win the new machine when it debuts on HSN. Here’s how. Send an original pennant banner to enter to win the brand new Cricut Expression 2. If you watch every airing on HSN you might also see your design on live TV with Jinger.
RULES:

• The contest runs August 22 – September 21 and all submissions must be received at the Provo Craft office by 5pm September 21nd.
• Anyone can participate ages 18 and older (U.S. and Canada only).
• Submissions must be a pennant banner (see examples)
• Pennant banner should spell out “Cricut.”
• Submissions can use any Cartridge made by Provo Craft.
• Submissions must not include photos.
• Submissions will not be returned and will become the property of Provo Craft.
• Submission may be shown on a National TV station.
• Judging will be done at the sole discretion of Provo Craft.
• You may enter up to 2 pennant banners.

Please send all submissions to:
Provo Craft
Attn: Jinger Adams
10876 S. Riverfront Parkway, Suite 600
South Jordan, Utah 84095

Winners will be announced after the first five HSN airings on September 26^th. Look for the announcements on both facebook.com/officialcricut and facebook.com/Jingeradams.
Good Luck everyone!

Now I already have an E2 Anniversary Edition but I am playing along simply because it's FUN, and if I do win an E2 I plan on giving it to my sister.  Another incentive for me is that there will be a $150 credit given to Cricut Circle members whose banners get chosen.  Sweet!  This is the first banner that I'm calling "Gothic Cricut" and my inspiration of course is the upcoming Halloween!

A few close ups of the banner:

For the banner base I chose the tag feature on the Wrap it Up cart.  The blackout feature image was cut using clear craft plastic by Recollections I bought from Michaels.  Then the tag front was cut using black cardstock.  I cut the top layer 2x so that I can attach one layer in the back behind the clear plastic - this also served as spot for me to put my name and cartridges used behind the pennants (I wrote really small because as you all can see, there's not much room!).  I did some faux stitching on the front and attached green irock gems for the eyes of the bats.  I then attached a droopy blood image from the Happy Hauntings cart just below the bat.  The font I used for the title was also from the Happy Hauntings cart.  For a little droopy blood effect, I used Ranger Glossy Accents on the "blood" and the title.  Hope the picture kinda gives you an idea (see above pic). 

For the flowers attached to each banner pennant I used a total of 4 different cuts from the Flower Shoppe cart.  I used  a jewelry gauge wire to attach a gray craft pearl and inserted that in the middle of the flowers - the gauge wire served as anchor for each pennant - with the banner being shipped via USPS,  those babies aren't going anywhere LOL! 

I poked a hole on the bottom of the center piece of my flower before I hot-glued to finish it off.

Then I threaded the jewelry gauge wire through before I attached the center piece to the rest of the flowers. I added black raffia and black tulle to hold the flowers and the pennant pieces together.   And that's it!  Hope you like and good luck to all who are entering the banner contest!  I mailed both of my banners early last week. 

Tomorrow I will share the other banner I created.  Happy Tuesday! 

Using My Stash - Happy Birthday Cupcake

Hello there!  So I'm participating in "Using My Stash - Round 2" over at the Cricut Circle MB organized by MamaC.  The rules are that we were to use what we already have until November 1st - no impulse buying!  I sure hope I last that long LOL!  There were some guidelines in her original post in the Cricut MB that I thought I could find loopholes in.....but shhhh don't tell MamaC, ok?  I WAS going to start AFTER the HSN launch of the E2 next week but maybe I can have a pass on that day instead ;). 

My 6 year old daughter's friend from her taekwondo class turns 8 at the end of this week so I made this card to go along with her gift we gave her yesterday.  The base of the card is from the Elegant Edges cart welded together.  Then I cut the same image twice in different colors, using the hide contour feature on my G for the blue layer but not on the green layer.  The green layer was then embossed with the Plum Blossom CB folder.  The circle printed cardstock was cut using the George and Basic Shapes.  The cupcake and the "Happy Birthday" sentiment was from the MS All Occasions Cake Art cart.  I got lucky I found the matching ribbon from my stash - bought it from Target a while back and it came in a spool with 3 other colors for $1!  I finished the card with 3 flower buttons I bought from Michaels a while back too.   The envelope was cut using the Sweethearts cart.

And there you go for my first project for "Using My Stash - Round 2!"  Thanks for looking! 

Thanks - my first Sophie card

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Today I thought I'd better use my Sophie cart - have had it for almost a month now and have not really used it.  This is an A2 size card.  The base is from Sophie cart and so are the butterfly layers (I hid the middle cuts off the butterflies on my G before cutting because they were not cutting right on the expression; I may have to change my blade).  The sentiment "thanks!" is from the Phrases cart, double layered using foam mounts and the top layer embossed with the D'vine Swirls CB folder and doodled with white Sakura gel pen.

The butterfly layers were also embellished with irock gems and foam mounted only in the middle.  The top border strip is punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.  I also attached a cream colored cardstock inside for writing personal sentiments, decorated that piece with Martha Stewart corner punch.  Excuse the ugly bow :( - I have the darndest time with bows! 

Anyway, thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!  

Butterfly Bday Card

Hello again!  Ok, I promised myself that I will try to make at least one post a week as I am slowly getting my crafting mojo back. Here is a quick post to share a card I made for my SIL Rita who had a birthday a few days ago.  This card fit in an A2 size envelope.  The base card is achieved by welding 2 of the same image from Elegant Edges cart.  Then I took the same image and cut it 2x in two different sizes to create a background mat.  The butterfly was cut in two layers and are from the Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art cart with the bottom layer embossed with D'vine Swirls CB folder.  I then added the light pink half pearls along the body of the butterfly.  The sentiment was also from the same MS cart. 

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend! 

Bday card for a little boy

Hello there bloggers!  Hope everyone had a wonderful long Labor Day weekend.  Just wanted to stop by for a bit to share a simple and quick card I made for a neighbor's little boy who turned 3 a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry for the bad photo as the lighting in my craft nook is just awful :(.  Anyway, this is an A2 card and the papers I used were from my scrap.  The image of the boy with the butterfly was from the A Child's Year cart cut at 3 inches.  The sentiment was from the Stamping cart cut at 1.5 inches.  I used the D'vine Swirls and the Swiss Dots CB folders for the images and the Spots and Dots CB folders to emboss the strip of cardstock.  Bluish-green buttons were used as accent as well as some doodling with the while Sakura gel pen. 

Hope you like and thanks for looking!