Sympathy Cross

Today's card is a Sympathy card. I used paper from The Paper Studio's Elegent Stack. The cross is from the Easter cartridge and I really like the cut. I used a shell paper punch to punch the corners. I don't have much detail here because I have nee sooo busy lately with my biggest project. :) I was pleased with the card, sorry I had to send it though.....

Pink for Monique!!!

I am a little behind as I have been so busy making some wedding invitations but, I did manage to get a card made for Monique. Monique is a fellow blogger who I have been following for a while, who recently found out she has breast cancer. You can check out her blog at http://monkeydoodlecricut.blogspot.com/. Robyn, My Pink Stamper, started a campaign to flood Monique's mailbox with pink. So, here is what I came up with.

I actually used FOUR cartridges to make this card. I started with a #10 envelope because I picked up a pink ribbon car magnet to send with it as well. I cut a brown card and then matted a printed sheet from DCWV's The Stack 6. The print is trees and birds and then I inked the edges with brown ink to make it flow more.

The bear at 5" using Create A Critter cartridge but, I decided not to use the layer that gives her a dress. I just wanted it to be a plain bear. I love that the cuts on this cartridge can be made plain as well as with the 'extras'. I cut the base in brown, then the next layer in light pink and then the top layer in a darker pink. I glued the two pink layers together and used Tim Holtz's Burlap folder to emboss them. After I embossed them, I glued them to the brown base. I used pop dots to attach the bear.

Then I got out my Give A Hoot cartridge and cut the phrase "Bear Hugs for Trees" at 1 1/2". As you can see, I didn't use the 'for trees' part of it. I also cut the grass at the bottom of the card using the Give A Hoot as well. I cut it at 1 1/2" using the border function of the deer key. It cut with flowers on it but, I didn't want to add more color to the card so, I cut the flowers off.

The pink breast cancer 'ribbon' was cut using the Stand & Salute cartridge. I cut it at 2 1/2" using the same two pink colors & the shadow function of that key.

On the inside, I mounted a pink sheet of paper with an xoxo ribbon that I got from Michael'. The phrase 'For You' was cut using the Wild Card cartridge. It's the phrase creative function on the present card key. I had to cut it at 10" since this cartridge is specifically meant to make the cuts based on the size of the card you are cutting. I mailed this out to her last week so hopefully she has already received it. Keep the faith Monique, all your paper crafting friends are praying for you!!!!

Birthday Girl!

Today's card is one that I made for a friend's daughter's 2nd BD. The printed mount is from the Paper Studio 'So-So Sweet' stack. I used the Storybook cartridge & DS to make do the scallop cut of the mat. It was the accent blackout key in shift...I just can't remember off the top of my head, which key it was. I cut the mat at 4 x 5 1/4" though.

I then cut the words BIRTHDAY GIRL also from the Storybook cartridge using the shadow creative feature and the Birthday Girl phrase key at 2 3/4" using paper from DCWV's Citrus Stack. I cut the layer feature in a different color and then embossed them together using the Tiny Bubbles folder. The butterfly ribbon is from the Target dollar bins (again).

On the inside, I cut the butterfly using the Tall/Border creative function and then shift on the C Butterfly. I cut it twice and cut the butterfly off the second one so that the butterfly would be a different color.

A crabby July Birthday

Today's card is a change in color from the past week! Whoo hooo! I made this for a July birthday for someone that appreciates astrology. I used the Child's Year cartridge to cut the crab. It's the Icon creative feature on the cartridge and the key is the one that is the little girl sitting with a sand bucket, holding up a starfish. I realized it was there when I was doing my July 4 cards and the crab is more realistic than cutesy. Since this person is a Cancer astrology sign, she is really fond of certain crab themed items. The blue paper is cut from a Colorblok stack that I just recently bought at WM. I really like the distressed look of the paper and I think it made the crab look realistic. I can't remember where the brown mounted sheet is from but the Happy Birthday ribbon was in a set from the Target dollar bins (which I love)

A castle fit for a princess!!!

So today is my biggest birthday project! I made four, yes, that's right, FOUR, 3D castles from the Once Upon a Princess cartridge. You can only see two in this picture (one in the background). I used them as centerpieces on some of the tables at the party and put some crimped green paper around them to appear like grass. A few tricks to cutting this castle. I wanted to cut it at 11" but, I was a little bewildered because some of the cuts you can't cut unless you use a 12x24 mat and 'turn' the image using DS.

The shift images on Page 75 & 76 have to be turned 90 degrees either way to make them horizontal and fit on the page at 11". Again, if you decided to cut bigger than 11", you would have to hide contour on one shape at a time and do individual cuts for each piece of those two 'cuts'. And the cut on Page 76 for the layer shift, the roofs for the towers, you would really need to adjust the layout if you made the castle too much bigger.

I also think it's important to note that it's a good idea to do the scoring and gluing where you can a bit before you really want to assemble the castle. It's a bit of a waiting game if you and sitting, waiting for the glue and trying to assemble. Another tip is not to fold the 'tabs' at the tops of the towers in too much. I think it's much easier for the 'roofs' to glue on when the 'tabs' are touching the roofs. If you fold them in too much, the glue doesn't even touch when you put the roof on. :)

Anyone that has any questions, feel free to ask, I'd be glad to help but, it really was an easy, low cost centerpiece after I made the first one! Good luck!!!

Princess Birthday Card

Today we have the card that I made for my little princess. I used the 3rd princess on the Once Upon a Princess cartridge and cut her at 3". I cut the layer for her hair and face twice, once in pink for the face and yellow for the hair. I cut the layers for her dress, crown and wand using the DCWV glitter stack's pink, blue, & purple. The printed mat was from a baby stack I had and the Happy Birthday are brads that I picked up at the Flower Factory in a bd themed set. On the inside, I cut the word princess using the phrase funtion of the cartridge. Time really wasn't on my side so I didn't cut the layers for the phrase but, I was happy with the way it turned out and she loved it!!!

Utensil Caddy

My next project was a quick one. I picked up this wooden caddy for $4, thinking 'great for napkins & silverware'. I covered it in pink paper that I get in 22" sheets from a locally owned paper store. I used repositionable glue dots to attach it so that I can remove the cover and recover it for my next party theme. I cut a bunch of crown shapes using the Martha Stewart punch that I used for the loot bags and then I glued each one to the front and sides. I added some paper to the corners and used a punch to make it more decorative. I was pleased with how it turned out, it went with the theme and was very functional!

Her Royal Banner!

Today's project is a crown banner that I made using the Once Upon a Princess cartridge. I used the banner creative function to cut alternate pink & purple crowns for each letter. I set them up in DS at 4 3/4" so that I would cut each letter in the right color and then I cut the opposite color as a solid background. Once I put the two together, I decided to cut the gem shape that was part of the layer for the crown cut I used on the loot bags and added them to the banner crowns along with some more silver stickles. I attached each crown letter of the banner to the next with alternating pink & purple square brads that I got at Joann's. I hung each word using basic pink ribbon from Michaels.

If the Crown Fits...

The next few posts will be projects instead of cards. We just wrapped up my daughters princess birthday party and of course, I used my Once Upon a Princess cartridge to make several things and help with the decorating!

My first project was the Crown Loot bags. I used the Once Upon a Princess and cut the crown and all the layers at 3 1/2". I cut alternating colors to coordinate with the bags I purchased form Target. After I glued all the layers together, I decided some stickles in the center of the 'gems' were needed. I used the silver. I then added a tag to each bag with the childs name (example: Princess Emily & Prince Andrew). I used a large Tag punch that I already had to cut two different colors for each tag. A couple weeks before the party, I picked up a Martha Stewart Crafts Crown shaped punch for $4.50 at WM, just in time to help with the party. I used the Crown punch to cut a crown out of the top tag and then glued the top tag to an alternate color solid bottom tag!

A little birdie told me...

Happy Birthday Em!!!! Made this one for my friend's daughter's 6th BD. I used Core'dinations solid card stock to make the birdie from Create A Critter at 3 1/2". The printed paper is from The Paper Studio Poteeka Souffle stack. I think the ribbon is from Michael's and the sentiment from the Fiskars kids birthday stamp set. I added a strip of the peach colored paper and the printed to the inside as well as another birthday sentiment.

Zoo Loot Bags

I am uploading all of my pics from my daughter's BD today and I realized that I never posted the pics of the loot bags that I made for my son's zoo BD party earlier in the year. I used the Animal Kingdom cartridge to make all of the animals with layers. I used a Child's Year and DS to weld all the kids' names together. I don't have a picture but, I created a second name file on DS to cut names for each of the kids' water bottles. I used some heavy duty decal labels and put them on over the water bottle label and then glued the names on. It worked perfectly and I didn't have any issues once the bottles started to get wet.

Fleur Di Lis

A birthday card for my niece who loves all things Fleur Di Lis. I hope she likes this one. I used DS to create a shaped card using the Sentimentals cartridge. This is actually a card shape on the cartridge but, I welded two together which made the one side straight and then I used some pirinted paper to give the card back the original shape about 1/4" smaller than the card size. I cut the Fleu Di Lis from Sentimentals as well. There is a tag function that has the shape so, I did a Hide Countour on the tag portion and just cut the shape using the metallic silver paper. I cut a liner for the inside, also 1/4" smaller than the card and stamped my sentiment!

Happy Birthday Panda

Ready for a color change? Today's card is a birthday card for my sister in law. The printed paper is from DCWV 'All Dressed Up' stack. The panda is cut from the Pagoda cartridge at 3". I used white pearly paper for his top layer. I couldn't stop after the 4th of July. :) The ribbon at the bottom is from Martha Stewart Crafts and the sentiment is recycled from a greeting card I received. ;) On the inside, I cut the bamboo at 4" and used the left over printed cardstock.

Independence Day!!!

Happy 4th of July! My last card is a 4x9 Independence Day card. I cut the Independence Day phrase from the Independence Day cartridge at 3". The printed paper is from The Paper Studio 'All Seasons' stack and I used a corner punch on the corners. I also cut three stars at 3" and layered behind the Independence Day phrase. On the inside, I cut the three star border from the Stand and Salute cartridge using the border function and finished with 'Celebrate Freedom'. Happy 4th of July!!!!

Flying High on 4th of July

Today's card was cut with A Child's Year cartridge. This particular cartidge doesn't have layers outside of shadow so, I cut this boy on the firecracker at 4" using the blue pearly paper again with a red shadow. I added some smaller stars at the end and some ribbon. The star print paper is from the Colorbok 'School Life' stack. On the inside, I added more paper strips and the 'Celebrate Freedom' stamp.

Firecracker

I changed it up a little and made a 4 x 9 1/4" card today. I used a different printed paper from the DCWV 'The Stack 6' and cut the firecracker and all layers from the Independence Day cartridge at 3". I then used some gold stickles to 'decorate' the spark. The 4th of July phrase was cut at 2 1/2" using the Stand & Salute cartridge and both layers. When I tried to cut it smaller, it would tear so, 2 1/2" was the smallest I could go. For the inside of the cartridge, I cut a 3 1/2" star using the same printed paper and then stamped the 'celebrate freedom' in the center.

Let Freedom Ring

Today's card is another 5x7. The printed paper is from The Paper Studio 'All Seasons' stack. I used a 1 1/2" strip of solid red in the center and then cut the phrase 'Let Freedom Ring' at 4" using Stand & Salute. On the inside, I cut another 1 1/2" strip, using white paper. I then cut the liberty bell from the Independence Day cartridge, using the layer function.