Altered Thank You's

As a gift to the Soon To Be mom, I bought some simple Thank You's that were printed in gold and I added the same nest and eggs that I used to make the invites.  The nest is from Create A Critter and the egg is from Straight from the Nest.   I included address labels and stamps for her as well!

Sea of Wonder

Oh how I love this octopus from Art Nouveau!!!  I've had my eye on this cut since I got the cartridge and then I read the Jinger Adams design team call HERE and I knew it had to be the the octopus! 

I cut it at 4 1/2".   Each layer was a different glittery or shimmery shade of aqua.  The papers were from the DCWV Royal Garden & Linen Closet as well as an Aqua shimmery vellum from the Paper Studio.   Once I assembled the entire octopus, I used a colored Sharpie to ink the edges, which really took some time.

The base of the card is a pale yellow and then a shimmery aqua and then a coral printed paper from Creative Imaginations South Seas stack.   I round punched the corners of all the layers and then used a Martha Stewart around the page punch on the coral top layer. 

The bubbles above the octopus are bisque colored liquid pearls and the net is black tulle that I folded together on the back of the mat, then taped down.   On the front, I cut the bottom of the tulle in a scallop pattern and spread it out.   The 'weights' on the ends of the net are round foam dots that I colored with a black sharpie and then added black circles the foam.   Once I was done, I used glossy accents to make the weights look shiny.

Last, the sentiment...   The frame was cut from the Songbird cartridge using Frame 2 at 2 1/4" and then the shadow at 2 1/4" and then another regular cut at 2 1/2".   I used a couple layers of foam dimensional dots on the frame and then added the printed sentiment that I inked to give some similar color to the shades of the card.

On the inside, I used the same papers but, corner punched the corners only and didn't do the edges.   The sentiment inside was also printed.  

Cherish Yesterday featured in Cricut Magazine

Today we have my second card that was featured in the January 2012 issue of Cricut Magazine. 

My husband got me the Damask Decor for Mother's Day and I had been itching to use it.  I think it is sooo beautiful!!  Unfortunately, I am using it, for the first time, to make a Sympathy card.  My bff's grandfather died this past weekend, at the age of 91.   I think that is remarkable, to live such a long healthy life and get to see your children as well as grandchildren and some great grandchildren, grow up.  I pray every day that my husband and I get that same kind of long life.

As for the card, I used the card function for the Damask3, cut at 5 1/2".  These are so pretty, you don't have to do anything to them but, I did decide to add ribbon, black stickles, and some gems.  For the ribbon, I just made a slit in the fold of the card, using a straight knife, that was the width of the ribbon, and ran it through.

On the inside, I cut a rectangle sheet in white and then added a strip of the teal paper and another piece of the black ribbon.   The sentiment is from Fiskars.

Circle Damask Birthday featured in Cricut Magazine

Hello blogger friends!!  Today I am posting my first card featured in the January 2012 Cricut Magazine!!   I can't tell you how excited I was to get accepted and published.   Not only was this card published but three other cards of mine were published as well in that January issue. 

 My card today was for my older sister! I used a black base, purple mat and then gray top.   I stamped the purple and black circle decoration on the gray using a Scrapy Cat stamp.   The main cirlce Damask cut is from the Damask Decor cartridge at 4" and then I did a shadow layer at 4 1/4" as well and added a purple gem in the center.   The ribbon is raffia and black and the sentiment is from  Studio 112.

The inside I stamped with the circle again and then a Happy Birthday sentiment on top of the circle, in black

Baby Shower Rosette

Here you have my 2 FOOT Rosette for the Adding to the Nest baby shower theme.  I started with 10 pieces of 12x12 paper and border punched them with a Martha Stewart border punch of birds perched on branches.  When I was done with all 10 sheets, I scored each sheet at two inches and glued them together.

The brown layer was 10 more sheets of the bird3 cut from Ribbons and Rosette's at 6" and then scored each sheet and glued them together.   When I laid the brown on top of the off white, I decided not to bring all the sheets together in the middle.  I laid the brown on top of the off white and left only about two inches showing of the off white and then glued the brown on. 

The top layer is metallic vellum paper that I scored.   I added a large round circle to the top and then the words "Welcome to the Nest' cut at 6" from the Straight from the Nest cartridge, with the shadow.  NOTE: that you have to use the 12x24 mat to cut the phrase at this size.   The 'Baby' is the baby boy phrase from B is for Boy at 3".

Last, I added some feathers that I cut using Straight from the Nest in various sizes between 2 1/2" - 7".  Hope you all have loved this as much as I do.   It took some time but, it was sooo worth it!

Adding to the Nest Invitation

I am starting to add some details about the Party Ensemble that I posted previously.   To start, we have the invite.   I started with a chocolate brown 5x7 sheet that I rounded the corners on and then an off white layer that I rounded the corners on and border punched with a Martha Stewart border punch that features these cute little birds perched on branches. 

The top layer is a gold metallic vellum from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby).   These printed so well with the invite information!  I added a strip of cream and gold ribbon across the top and then added a nest cut from Create A Critter.   It's the Accessory cut of the Chick, cut at 1 1/4" and I cut two of them.   The first one, I glued to the invite and then I added the egg, cut from Straight From the Nest.   The cut was the Nest Shift, using real dial size at 1 1/4" and inking the edges in a tan color.   Then, I added a little real feather and a second nest cut on top of it, that was attached using pop dots.  

I love the way that these turned out because it'd very elegant versus 'baby'. 

Adding to the Nest Party Ensemble

Hello everyone!  Today is  BIG post kind of day!   Over at the Paper Crafts blog, they have a challenge to create a party ensemble.   The challenge is in celebration of their new book, Party Ensembles.   Check it out HERE.

So, my ensemble is done.   I would have liked to do more but, honestly the 2 foot rosette sign has really caused me to lose sleep!!  It took an entire day for me to do but, I LOVE IT!!!   I will give some details but, not too much.   I'll do some posts to provide the details of each item later.   But for now, here it is.   The theme is 'Adding to the Nest' and it's for a baby shower.

The 2' rosette was made using a Martha Stewart border punch, my scoreboard, my Cricut, the Ribbons and Rosette's cartridge, the Straight from the Nest cartridge, paper and a hot glue gun!

Included with the Rosette Sign is a decorative napkin ring, an invitation, a favor and a tent card for the food. 

The invite and the tent card feature the Martha Stewart border punch with birds perching on branches.  The invite is three layers with a chocolate brown, a tan, and then a gold metallic vellum paper that was printed with the invitation.   I added a nest from Create a Critter, a little egg and a real feather to accent.

The tent card was a chocolate brown layer with a tan layer and then chocolate again and a printed sheet that I inked a little to relieve the stark white color.

The favors are one of my favorite parts.   They are No Bake Cookies with a Reese's Pieces egg (since this is that time of year).  The tag is from the Storybook cartridge with a stamped sentiment.   I tied the tag on with three different colors of ribbon.

And the napkin ring was made out of the gold metallic paper, border punched with the Martha Stewart punch, again, and then attached with some glue tape.   I also added the same three ribbons around the napkin ring, as I did the favor.  I really love how this all turned out!!!

UpCycled Die Cut

So, I saw Emma's a couple days ago over at My Creative Time,  for a NON Cricut card and I knew just where I needed the start!  It's amazing how much usable stuff there is in kids toy packaging!  This playing card die cut was from a LaLaLoopsy magician doll that my daughter got for Christmas.  It was just spot glued on the inside of the box.  I couldn't throw it out because it seemed perfect for a card!   I didn't alter the cards at all.

I started with a white frame and then a red mat.   I cut the mat a little smaller than the white frame and then I border punched the side with an EK Success border punch and then I inked the edge in black.   The vertical border paper I used was from the DCWV Travel Stack.  The sentiment is a stamped Studio 112 sentiment that I mounted.  The little hearts, diamonds, spades, and clovers were left over from the border punch so I added them as well.

I didn't add an inside sentiment because I thought this could be a good wedding or Valentine's Day card but, I did make the inside match the front, with the border punch.  Although rarely done, not one Cricut cut used on this one!!!