Distressed Card

I received some new WOW! stamps and of course I had to try them out. The sets I bought were Everyday Sentiments, Funky Border Strips and French Music. This is what I came up with. This card style is a bit out of my comfort zone, I don't make a lot like this one. However, I had a lot of fun working on it.

My card base is a light tan card stock cut and folded to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. I added a dark brown mat cut at 4" X 5 1/4" from the Tim Holtz Nostaglic Collection Core'dinations card stock. And another tan mat cut at 3 3/4" X 5".

For my final layer, I started with some white card stock cut at 4" X 5". I used some Tim Holtz distress ink in old paper, antique linen, tea dye, and vintage photo to ink up my paper. I started with my lightest color and worked my way to the darkest color layering the color as I went. I then lightly spritz the paper with some water and allowed it to dry. Next I took some of the Tim Holtz Distress Stain in tarnished brass and inked around outer edges of my paper. I allowed it to dry for a few minutes then turned the paper over and spritzed it with water until it was fairly damp and then crumbled it all up. I spritzed from the back so my ink on the front wouldn't react to the water. I carefully opened up the paper and dried it with my heat tool. Once it was dry I took my blending tool and some Vintage Photo and lightly went over the top of my paper to enhance the wrinkles I had created.

Using Vintage Photo and the French Music stamp I stamped the inked paper. Because of some of the creases, and wrinkles I got a very broken up image which was what I wanted. I then cut it down to 3 1/2" X 4 3/4" so it would fit the front of my card. I took my scissors and distressed the edges of the paper and the adhered all my layers together.

I wanted my sentiment to be the focal point of my card. So using my Cricut and the Elegant Edges cartridge and the Oblong creative feature I cut a scallop and shadow at 3". The shadow was cut out of the dark brown and the top layer was cut out of the light tan.

I inked the edges of the tan scallop with some Tea Dye Tim Holtz Distress Ink and used Vintage photo to stamp my sentiment. Because this ink lightens a bit when it dries, it was a perfect choice to use with the sentiment to carry my distressed theme.

I added some rhinestone flourishes to the front of my card. These were actually clear rhinestones that I colored with a Spectrum Noir marker GB10.

My flowers are a 3d Rose cut that I cut with my Silhouette Cameo. The paper is Core'dinations Gemstone card stock, but not sure of the name of the color but it is a light golden  yellow.

I rolled my flowers and adhered a gold pearl in the center of each flower. I didn't have enough small gold pearls to trim my scallop so I used some Gold Pearl Liquid pearls for that. I adhered the sentiment mat to my card using some foam tape.

I hope you like it. I had a lot of fun working on this one as it was a bit more of a challenge for me.

A Banner Year!

The new Cricut Cardz Challenge is to make a project using a banner. This is what I came up with. My card base is white card stock cut and scored to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. I added a black mat cut to 4" X 5 1/4" and then a pink mat cut to 3 3/4" X 5" and then a patterned paper mat cut at 3 1/2" X 4 3/4". I cut my mat using Elegant Edges and my Gypsy. I adjusted the size so it was approximate 2 1/2" X 3". The shadow was cut out of black and the top layer was cut out of red card stock and then I ran it through my eBosser and embossed it with the 3 dots Sizzix embossing folder. The mat was adhered to my card with some foam tape. My birds come from the Rock Princess cartridge and were cut at 3".

I hope you will join us for the challenge.

Cricut Cardz Ch#123 "A Banner Year" 

Make a card with a banner using any cartridge(s).

Starts: Wed, Jan 16 

Ends: Tues, Jan 29 @ Noon EST
Prize: 1 set of Cardz TV Stamps 

Here is my project for this challenge:

Come play with us!
...

Color Play Challenge

The new Cricut Cardz Challenge over at Cardz TV is to make a card  using any cartridge(s) and any theme you’d like, BUT using the colors red, yellow, and blue ONLY. You may also use black and white as accent colors. This is what I came up with.

I started with a white card base cut and folded to 4 1/4" X 5 1/2". I then added a yellow mat that I embossed using the Seeing Spots Cuttlebug embossing folder. Next I cut out a mat at 3 3/4" using the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge. I cut the shadow layer out of blue and the main layer out of a red and white polka dot paper from Echo Park. Then I cut my flower at 3" from the Paper Trimmings cartridge out of blue and yellow. I added a red button to the center of my flower and stamped my sentiment.

I sure hope you will play along with us over at Cardz TV.

After the Storm Card

The challenge going on right now at Cricut Cardz Challenge is April Showers. To make a project using an umbrella, clouds, raindrops, boots etc. You can make it for any occasion and use any colors you like. This is what I came up with.

I started with a white card stock card base cut and folded to 4 1/4" X 5 1/2". I added a blue mat cut at 4" X 5 1/4" and then a polka dotted mat cut at 3 3/4" X 5". The polka dot paper is from Echo Park, so is the green paper for the Grass.I thought the polka dotted paper gave the impression of rain. For the grass I used the grass cut from the Easter 2010 Seasonal cartridge. Using my Gypsy I welded 3 pieces of the grass together. I size the image to 1 3/4" X 5" and then cut the grass out of the green striped paper and adhered it to my card.

My little girl image is from Kate's ABC's and she is cut at 3 1/2" I used my Imagine the Nursery Tail cartridge to color and cut the layers for my little girl. Her face and hands are an RGB color. I adhere all the layers of my little girl together with my zig two way glue pen. I finished the image with some Glossy Accents on the boots, coat and hat so it had the shiny rain coat look. I used some pink chalk to give my little girl a rosy cheek. I adhered my little girl to my card with some foam tape.

My sentiment mat is cut at 2 1/4" from the Elegant Edges cartridge. I used the same blue for the sentiment mat image as I did for my card. I inked around the white layer with some Summer Sky Memento ink and then stamped my sentiment with the same ink. The sentiment says You're the Rainbow after the Storm and is from The Greeting Farm. I adhered the sentiment mat down directly to my card with my ATG gun and then added some small blue buttons in each corner.

I am also entering this card in the April Showers challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut. I hope you like my card. Thanks for visiting.

Cutters Creek Tuesday Tutorial Post

So the other night I couldn't sleep and got to thinking about how I have seen people make a marbleized looking paper with reinkers and photo paper. I got to wondering what I could come up with if I used the distress inks on photo paper, so I set out to find out. I started with several different Distress Inks. I used Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Seedless Preserves which was part of the Fall Limited Edition colors. I also used my Foam Ink Applicator. I randomly applied the ink to my photo paper. When I finished I spritzed it lightly with water and then went back over the entire area with the Spun Sugar to be sure there were no white spots and to light blend the colors together.

I then cut a mat from the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge (I believe Kim can special order this if you are interested) out of the photo paper and also from a dark burgandy scrap paper for the shadow. For my card base, I started with Kraft card stock I cut, scored and folded to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card stock base. I then cut a mat our of the same burgandy card stock 4" X 5 1/4" and then cut a mat from the Prima Botanical 6" X 6" paper pad. For the image on my card I used an image from the Morehead Decoupage Ecstasy Craft line. While the particular set I used is not available the Ecstasy Craft images are great to put together a quick card. Check out the dimension you get once you are done layering the image.

I really love how the photo paper turned out and it works great with my image and paper. What a great way to create custom back grounds for your images. I hope you will give it a try and tryout the Ecstasy Craft line.

Hello Card

Here is a card I made using my Imagine, the Enjoy the Season's cartridge and the Sophie and Elegant Edges, Cricut cartridges.

I started with white card stock cut and folded to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. I added a green mat cut to 4" X 5 1/4" and a patterned paper mat cut to 3 3/4" X 5". Both the green mat and the patterned paper mat are from the DCWV Linen Stack.  I cut the rose from the Sophie cartridge. I flooded the base layer with a red color from the Enjoy the Season's cartridge and the top layer with a light green. I cut the flower at 3 1/2". I used some Stardust stickles on the green layer and allowed it to dry before adhering them together. The mat for my sentiment was cut from the Elegant Edges cartridge at 1 1/2". I lightly inked the edges with some  Iced Spruce distress ink. The rose was added to the card front with some foam tape.

Just Because Card

I recently got the Kate’s ABC’s Cricut cartridge and knew immediately what I wanted to do when I saw this image on the cartridge. This image reminded me of the chives in bloom that I grow on my back patio in pots.

My card base is an A2 4 1/4” X 5 1/2” cream card stock. My orange and patterned paper is from a Basic Grey 6” X 6” paper pad I got from Cutter’s Creek several months ago and is no longer available. I really encourage you to get some of the 6” X 6” pads that Cutter’s Creek sells like the new Echo Park pads. They are great for card making, the patterns are shrunk down to be in proportion to the size and work great for cards reducing waste. Check them out.

Back to my card. I used the Elegant Edges cartridge for the decorative mat and cut both the shadow and the base image from page 38 of the handbook using the oblong creative feature.

My yellow layer of the decorative mat was actually cut out of white card stock. I used some Wild Honey Distress Ink and my Inkssentials Blending Foam and the Alcohol Ink Applicator to apply the ink in a circular motion over my entire piece of white card stock. Then I sprayed it with some Sun Sister’s Glimmer Mist. Once I sprayed the card stock and lightly blotted it with a paper towel and let it dry.

While the card stock was drying I cut out my image from page 67 of the Kate’s ABC’s handbook. I cut all the layers at 3” and followed the colors as they worked for what I wanted to do.  After adhering all the layers together I got out my Sweet Pea Flower Soft and my Flower Soft Glue and got to work. I applied the glue to the flowers and sprinkled the flower soft over the glue and tamped it down using my finger. I allowed it to dry and then gently tapped off the excess and loose flower soft.

To finish my card, I added a piece of twine from my stash to the pot and attached the image to my card front with some foam tape . I then added some pink I-Rocks Glitter Gems in two sizes using my heat set tool to each corner of my yellow mat. Love this gem set, it has several different colors and each color and several different sizes. I opted to use two sizes with a larger one in the middle.  I haven’t stamped a sentiment yet as I haven’t decided who will be getting this card and for what occasion.

While the cricut cartridges are not listed on the Cutter’s Creek site Kim might be able to order them for you, just ask.

Anniversary Card

My 23rd wedding anniversary is this Saturday. My husband and I are headed to a bed and breakfast at the Oregon Coast to celebrate.  Because May is such a full month for us with birthdays, Mother’s Day and our Anniversary we usually don’t do much other than go to dinner. I decided to make a card and take with me to give to my husband while we are gone. My card base is an 9” X 4 1/2” rectangle flooded with a green gingham pattern from the Imagine More Cricut Imagine cartridge. I then used one of the images from the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge and flooded each layer with  a pattern or color from the Imagine More cartridge. I adhered the layers and shadow together and pop dotted to the from of my card. I then cut the Happy Anniversary from the Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge and a dark brown and blue and flooded each layer with the colors from the Imagine More cartridge. I cut the sentiment at 1 1/4”. I then cut the butterfly also from the Imagine More cartridge at 1 1/2”. I cut the image using the combine feature and cut it twice. I layered the butterfly cuts with a glue dot in the middle and some small pieces of foam tape under each wing so the butterfly wings were raised. To finish the card I used some clear heat set rhinestones under the butterfly and added a cream colored ribbon. I think the colors and simplicity of the card will work well for my husband. Thanks for visiting.

Happy Mother’s Day Card

For this card I started with a 5” X 7” white pre-folded card base. I used the Lori’s Garden cartridge for all the patterned papers. I started with the 5:7 stock image rectangle and flooded it with the floral blue pattern and cut it down to 4 3/4” X 6 3/4”. I then cut a piece of white card stock 2” x 6 3/4” and used  Martha Stewart border punch on it and put that across the middle of my card. I added a light blue and white dotted ribbon across the top of the white to cover the edge of the card stock. I then used my Elegant Edges cartridge and flooded the shadow of this image with a pink patterned paper and cut it at 4”.  I cut the base layer flooded with a blue patterned paper. I then cut the image one more time at 3 1/2” and flooded it with a solid dark blue also from Lori’s Garden Imagine cartridge. I ran the solid blue piece through my Cuttlebug and embossed it with the Swiss Dots folder. I cut the pansy image from Lori’s Garden as well at 3” using the layers feature. I pop dotted many of the layers of the flowers to give dimension to the card. I adhered mat cut from Elegant Edges to the card with pop dots but the individual layers where adhered together with my ATG gun. To finish the card, I tied a small bow and adhered it to the ribbon with a pop dot. Added some pearls at the lower edge of my card and stamped my sentiment. Thanks for visiting.

It’s a Girl Mini Album

The challenge this week over at Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog  anything goes. Here is my first post as a Design Team Member. I recently bought the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge and knew the book creative feature would make a great mini album. I also had the want to make a mini album for a co-worker who is having her first baby, a girl this summer. Mindy challenged us to go out of our comfort zone and make something we don’t usually make. Since I am a diehard card maker what a perfect time to challenge myself to make a mini album.  The album isn’t bound yet, I am waiting for my wires for my Bind-It-All to arrive probably Monday or Tuesday and will get it bound and a picture added to this post when I do.  I used the Elegant Edges and one of the images from the cartridge to cut the image for the cover. I cut the wording from the Nursery Rhymes cricut cartridge. I sprayed the green mat with some Honey Dew Mist Glimmer Mist and the pink with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

I used the Lace Edge image from page 44 of the handbook and use the book creative feature to cut my pages at 5” for my mini album. Since I didn’t have chipboard I cut each image twice out of colored cardstock and then again from my patterned paper. To cover the base pages I used some heavy patterned paper from K & Company.

I also used Images printed and cut from my Imagine and the Nursery Tails cartridge. Lace, and trims from my stash adorn many of the pages as well as some stickers and embellishments from K & Company and from my stash.

The tag on this page is actually from the Imagine More cartridge. It is the one with the little strawberry on it. I cut it at 3” and flooded the base layer with green, the next layer with pink and then left the lined paper image as is. I did not use the strawberry or the word Sweet. All of the frames in the book are also cut from the Elegant Edges cartridge. I left the back of the back cover as is. It is the same patterned paper as the front cover. This was a huge challenge for me as I do not scrapbook and have never made a layout. This is the second mini album I have made and the first of this kind. It was a lot of work but I am very happy how it turned out.

Elegant Edges Birthday Card

I received my Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge this week and had a chance to try it out today. I made this birthday card for my sister whose birthday is Saturday.

I started with a 5 1/2” square card base made from white card stock. I rounded the corners of the card base. I used the image from page 34 of the hand book, Dots1. I cut the shadow from some pink card stock in my stash. I then flooded the top layer with a pattern from the Yummy Cricut Imagine cartridge and the second layer with a dark turquoise blue from the Yummy color palette. I cut all these images at 5”. My cake and sentiment are also from the Yummy Imagine cartridge. I used the layers feature to cut the cake and candles at 3”.  I cut the Make a Wish also using the layers feature at 1”. I sprayed the chocolate part of the cake with some coffee shop glimmer mist and the frosting layers with some old lace and pearl glimmer mist sprays. I also sprayed the background on the Make a wish with the coffee shop glimmer mist. Once the glimmer mist dried and glued all the layers together. I pop dotted the mat I cut from Elegant Edges to my white card base. I also pop dotted the cake and sentiment to the card for added dimension. I am not having to mail this card so am not worried about the added height on the card.  I added some yellow and orange stickles to the candles so they sparkled.

This cartridge has so many great cuts on it. I am sure I will be using it often. Thanks for visiting.