Sunday, February 28, 2010

Lily Ballerina Lace Card by Vicki



Here is another quick and simple card, that can be used for Valentine's...or any other special occasion. In this example, I made it a "Thank You" card, to thank someone for a special gift!

The card was cut with my Cricut Expression, using the Wild Card cartridge. I cut both the card and the matching envelope. Remember, when using Wild Card, it's easier to cut the envelope first, using the "Fit to Page" feature...and make note of the measurement it calculates to make the envelope. (It will flash briefly on your display screen before it starts to cut the envelope!) Next, make sure the "Fit to Page" feature is OFF, set your dial size to the size the display showed, and THEN cut your card.

The stamp is from the Pink Cat Studios line: Lily Ballerina Valentine. She was stamped on Prism paper using the Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black, and then colored with Copic markers. Next, she was cut out and placed on a simple circle in complementary colors. The white background really makes her "POP" on the front of the card. I then used the same patterned paper on the inside liner of the envelope to coordinate the set.

The card cutouts around the outside edge are spaced and numbered just right to 'lace' a ribbon through it.

I used my Scor Pal to score the edges of both the card and the envelope.

All the products below can be purchased at Cutters Creek:
Pink Cat Studio stamp
EZ Mount
Memento Ink Pad
Prism Paper
Copic Markers
Cutter Bee Scissors

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Kim B's Oriental Window

I love the new Scenic Windows by Flower Soft! This is the new Oriental topper. These pieces were so easy to cut out and adhere with foam dots for dimension. I also used the new Ultra Fine Flower Soft to give the card some more pop! I love these topper when you are looking to put something together quickly. Just add your own extras and voila, done! I mounted the topper on a 5X7 card blank, added a strip of glitter paper, a piece of ribbon, and inked the card a little, and then finished off the outer corners with my WRMK chomper. This was a fast and easy card! All these products can be found at Cutters Creek.

Supplies:
Ultra Fine Flower Soft
Scenic Windows-Oriental
Glitter Paper
Ribbon
Ink
WRMK Corner Chomper
Scor Tape
Pop Dots

Friday, February 26, 2010

A Child's Year by Kim B

I have had A Child's Year for a while now and have just cracked the clam shell on this Cricut cartridge. (Shame on me!) I wanted the focus to be my daughter in law and my grand daughter in this layout, so as much as I like to bling up my pages, I tried to keep it simple. A Child's Year is perfect for this as there are many silhouettes for you to choose from and these all allow you to make a simple cut to make a big statement. I did use my Leave It To Weaver Fiskars punch (one of my personal favorites) to weave in some ribbon and added Petaloo flowers and used one of my spica glitter pens to journal my thoughts about these two little ladies. Scrapbooking can be as simple or as detailed as you need, just remember it is your way. Stop by Cutters Creek and pick up some supplies and start scrapping.
Supplies:
A Child's Year Cricut cartridge
Fiskars Punch
ribbon
Petaloo flowers
Copic Spica glitter pens
card stock

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Angela's Cutters Creek Story





If you're anything like me, you spend a fair amount of time online or in magazines looking at the latest and greatest paper craft products. I love to see what everyone else is working on. It gives me ideas and inspiration. If you are a lot like me while browsing other crafter's works you will undoubtedly find something that you don't yet have but can't possibly live another day without. Is any of this sounding familiar? (You know who you are!!!) Well that is exactly what happened to me when I saw this Lucy Bird patterned paper pack by Imaginisce. But like a lot of you, I no longer have a local scrapbook store (LSS). So what is a desperate paper crafter to do???

I emailed Kim at Cutters Creek and asked if she could get the paper for me from one of her vendors, even though she doesn't carry the paper in her store, she emailed me back the same day with an invoice to order the paper. In just a few short days it was in my hot little hands!
I am sure that I am not the only one surprised that there are still businesses that put their customers first, and still go the extra mile to help a customer out. Kim does that each and every day, not just for DT members but for any and all of her customers. Now I can't promise you she will order every single craft item your heart desires (I'd be in deep trouble with the darling hubby if she did). But if she can she will and that is what sets her apart from the big box stores and even a whole lot of online retailers out there. Kim's customer service is one of the main reasons that I am on her DT. Her reliability and professionalism can't be beat.

All right, even bragging on Kim for now, on to the card details. I used pink, blue, brown and yellow cardstock from my stash. Then I cut a square of the Lucy Bird paper and layered that on a strip of brown cardstock that I punched. I added a larger strip of the brown cardstock on top and then cut three scalloped squares with my Nestabilities. Next I stamped the cupcake six times. Six you ask, but I only see three. I stamped it six times, coloring three complete images and three extra flowers with my copics. I cut the cupcakes out with a circle Nestabilitie then I applied Liquid Applique for the frosting added a little glitter (no project is complete until I sparkle) and set it with my heat gun. Next I filled in the flowers with my Spica glitter pens, cut the three extra flowers out and attached each with a pop dot. To finish off the card I attached each of the stamped images with another pop dot.

If you see anything on this project (or any of the other DT projects) go to the Cutters Creek store. If you can't find what you are looking for, send Kim an email and see what she can do to help!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lea is Dreaming of Spring



It’s snowing right now, but I am thinking of spring! Flower Soft adds color and texture, imitating real flowers. Of course with other projects I like to use Flower Soft for fur, snow, and other textures. It’s fun to challenge myself to see where I can add a mix of color and dimension to my art.

The examples are 2 easy projects that anyone can do! If you are not sure of what images would work best, I would suggest getting Flower Soft printed Toppers. They are images that have flowers and areas to place the Flower Soft. I would also suggest the Flower Soft adhesive glue as well unless you have a needle-point tip as I have for thin-lined paint work. In addition, the kits with several jars of Flower Soft is a good way to get many colors at once.

The window is from a Flower Soft image, and the flower can is from a rubber stamp. You can use your Copics to color the image first, then add the Flower Soft.



Keep warm and think of spring, after all if the groundhog is out on a cloudy day, winter will end soon!

Please note: To get realism with the watering can, after coloring, take the clear Copic marker and make dots on the part of the watering can that sticks out, where the light would hit.

Cutters Creek Supplies:

Flower Soft: Lavender, Green, Spring
Flower Soft Adhesive
Stamp: Unknown
Copics: Clear, C3, C0, E07, E47, E35, Y38, E27, E25, RV32
Cardstock for stamping and layering finished pieces : Bazzill

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Some Buggy Love U by Vicki



The first is a simple Valentine's card...quick and easy. The Pink Cat stamp: Lily Valentine Fairy is mounted on EZ Mount, so that I can add it to an acrylic block when I'm ready to stamp them! I used my Memento ink pad in Tuxedo Black, and stamped the image on Prism paper. I colored my images with my Copic Markers, and then cut close to the edges with Cutter Bee scissors. The Cutter Bee scissors are nice and small, and make it easy to get close, detailed cuts to the edge of my stamped image. And what fairy does require a little sparkle? I added Stickles to her fairy wings and the heart antennae on the fairy and the lady bug.

The heart embellishment is actually a Bazzill Chip, which I colored with simple red marker. Then, I outlined the edge with Twinkle Jewels, adhered with Mini Glue Dots.

The edges are highlighted by a simple heart punch, and then I placed white strips of paper on the inside of the card, to highlight the punch outs. I then inked the entire front of the card with a little bit of red ink, to give it some dimension.

All the products below can be purchased at Cutters Creek:
Pink Cat Studio stamp
EZ Mount
Memento Ink Pad
Prism Paper
Copic Markers
Cutter Bee Scissors
Bazzill Chips - Hearts
Twinkle Jewels
Mini Glue Dots

Monday, February 22, 2010

Quick Cards by Laura

We all have those times when we just need a quick card to say, "Thinking of you". That is why I am so grateful for digital stamps and free images! We are lucky to have some amazing designer over at Cutters Creek Design Team Blog who create fantastic images like the one I used in this card which are often available free! What could be better than that??

Anyway, back to the card. We all run into times we need a quick card and digital images like these can be a real life saver. You print them out onto your card stock using your laser or ink jet printers. Before coloring them, be sure to quickly heat set the ink with your heat tool.

I like to keep a basket of scrap papers just for quick cards like these. The leftover scraps from scrapbook pages can be perfect for your cards. Why waste those beautiful papers? Reuse strips for wording and accents.




For this card I used a free digi image from Sher over at Cutters Creek. I colored it using my Copic Markers, and then I added a little bit of Diamond Stickles for the nose to give it a little pop. I hand lettered some leftover strips of card stock, and added more Diamond Stickles to the heart on my lettering.

For quick cards, I always have big stack of white card stock in 8.5" x 11" in my stash. That way I always have the perfect background. I cut my card stock in half and then folded it for my card base. I cut one piece of card stock at 4" x 5.25 inches for my background, so I could leave some white card stock showing. Next I cut another piece of coordinating card stock at 3.5" x 4.75 inches for layering. Then I cut another coordinating piece at approximately 3.0" by 2.25" and rounded the corners with my corner rounder. I chalked all of the edges using my Pebbles chalks.

I layered my card stocks onto my card base using my Glue Glider and then attached my colored digi stamp. I added my sentiment, and then my Skittles using my 3/16 Glue Dots.

In less than 20 minutes I had the perfect quick spring themed card ready to send to my friend to let her know I was thinking of her.

The products used in this project are available for purchase at Cutters Creek are:

Copic Sketch Markers ( 0 Colorless Blender, E42, E09, E70, E30, RV02, 100 and R01)
Stickles Glitter Glue - Diamond
Glue Glider
Glue Dots
Pebbles Chalks
Sher's Free Digi Image
Twinkle Jewels

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Vicki's Dueling Dragons


For this project, I wanted to highlight some of the neat things that can be done with the Cricut Expression and Design Studio. This is a two page layout that I created based on a Page Maps layout. I love to use Page Maps to develop my pages - it gives me a great starting off point and I can adjust as I need to based on the number of pictures I have! This layout is based on the January 2008 Page Maps: http://www.pagemaps.com/jan08maps.htm.

This layout calls for a coordinated set of papers and embellishments...but I didn't have anything in my crafty arsenal that really felt like it fit...and I knew I wanted to use my stash rather than go out and buy more stuff. Because my layout is of my son on a roller coaster, I knew I wanted something 'swirly' so I turned to my Storybook cartridge to find the perfect accents. Once I found the main embellishment (Accent Frame Swirl), I decided to play around with Design Studio, and I created a butterfly using the corner swirl from that same key, plus an oval from George! The title "Deuling Dragons" is also cut from the Storybook cartridge.


These pictures are pretty busy...so I didn't want to use a highly patterned paper, but I wanted it to match like the layout showed. I remembered that I have the markers that go in the Cricut blade housing, and got a great idea to make MY OWN patterned paper. I used the same Accent Frame Swirl that I had already cut, and added it several times to my page, arranging them throughout a 12x12 page, flipping and turning along the way. Instead of the blade, I put a marker in the housing, and DREW the pattern rather than cut it. (NOTE: this design takes a LONG TIME to draw...so be patient!) The end result was a custom patterned paper and coordinating accents to make my layout shine! I included the .cut files so you can see how I did it. A sample full sheet photo in white is shown here, so you can get an idea of what the full page looks like.



All these items can be purchased from Cutters Creek:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Design Studio
Cricut Color Inks - Primary (ON SALE NOW 50% OFF!)
Storybook Cartridge
Glue Glider Pro

Butterfly File

Friday, February 19, 2010

Card Making Step by Step by Mandie


For today's project I thought I would focus on a few of the products you may not think about when viewing a finished project. I took a few photos of my card in process. To begin I made an 8" x 3 1/2" card from off-white cardstock. I cut a piece of striped paper to 8" x 3 1/2" and cut the heart paper to 8" x 1 1/2". Then I used my Tombow Mono Adhesive tape runner to stick the heart paper to the left side of the stripe.



Next I tore off a piece of 1/8" Scor-Tape about 9" long and adhered in on the seam where my papers meet, wrapping it around the back of the paper. One of the best things about the Scor-Tape, aside from its awesome sticking power, is the fact that you don't need to gunk up your scissors cutting it. It tears so easily! You may notice under my project in the photos is my Bazzill Splat Mat. I love the fact that I can wrap my adhesive around the back of my paper and I don't worry about my project sticking the the table. It is non-stick and heat safe up to 500 degrees so you can emboss on it too with out worrying about damaging your table.

After I stuck the ribbon down I decided that I wanted to add a few heart brads. I pulled out my Tim Holtz Design Ruler to find the center point on the striped paper and used the holes built right into the ruler to pierce the paper where I wanted to add the brads. This is a great multi-purpose ruler! It has the holes spaced every ½” and it is also a true 12" ruler for accurate measurements. It has the ¼” grid to make finding your exact placement super easy and it has a metal edge on one side so you can use a craft knife without damaging the ruler. The other edge of the ruler is tapered so that you can draw lines easily. And it’s clear so you can see your project through the ruler.


After adding my brads I still thought the card needed a little more embellishment so I pulled out my flower stash! The base flower I used is a multi-layered flower with no center hole so but I wanted to add more to it. I didn't want to poke a hole in my flower so instead I used my mini Glue Dots on the backside of my white flower to stick it in the center of my red flower. I added a pretty pink rhinestone to the center of the paper flower to cover up the hole.



Next I grabbed my Tombow Mono Adhesive tape runner to stick the completed card front to my base. Now I could have just added my sentiment to the inside of my card and called it finished but I also wanted to talk about a part of the card we don't always think about.... the back!





You can let your lucky recipient know that you made your card just for them with this adorable stamp set! The Image Tree Handmade Clear Stamp Set has a number of cute images. For my project I chose the "bar code" stamp that says "Just For You" and the "Designed with Love by:________________" stamp. I just inked them up with some Brown Ink and signed the back with my pink Sakura Jelly Roll Pen.


Here is a list all of the products featured in today’s project which can be purchased at Cutters Creek:

Tombow Mono Adhesive
Scor-Tape
Bazzill Splat Mat
Tim Holtz Design Ruler
Glue Dots
Image Tree Handmade Clear Stamp Set
Sakura Jelly Roll Pen

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Kim B's Love U Card



I made this card for my husband Joel for Valentine's Day, but we have love moments all year around. Special days, special anniversaries, and just because. I bought the Hello Kitty Font Cartridge some time ago for the chunky font and the few Hello Kitty images, and am just now cutting the clam shell open and using the cartridge. So, off I went to make a card for my husband. This card was mostly Cricut. I also used Twinkle Jewels for the eyes, stickles for the nose and heart wand, and my WRMK corner chomper to round the corners. I used one of the phrases and cut that in glitter paper along with the letters on the front of the card, and added the shadow feature to the back of the phrase. The card stock is embossed with little hearts and all I need to do now is add my private message and stamp the back with my personal stamp. This card was so easy peasy to make and you can find items to make this same card at my store, Cutters Creek. Happy Cricutting!




Supplies:

Hello Kitty Font Cricut Cartridge
Stickles
Twinkle Jewels
WRMK Corner Chomper
Card Stock
Glitter Paper
Adhesive







Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Lea's Warm Winter Wishes with Pink Cat Studio Stamps



Brrrr it’s cold outside. The snow has been falling, covering the ground in a white blanket.

Pink Cat Studios has the cutest designs just perfect for Copic markers. I love the layered look and so I decided that since snowmen are made from “circles” or balls of snow, I would concentrate my design with circles and a few squares. Twinkle Jewels adds the perfect dimension for buttons and then I actually used buttons to continue the circle theme. The background paper is pearl flowers with little circles. The ribbon tape has pink circles. As an added touch I used my Copic markers on the little metal word “Joy.” I used a tapping motion to cover the surface to give full coverage. And notice the Flower Soft? It is not just for flowers. There are so many ways to use this product.





My favorite part of this image is the little birdie, I just adore him! So even though it is cold outside and there is snow on the ground, have fun creating wonderful art with Pink Cat Studio images.



All these products can be purchased at Cutters Creek.

Supplies:
Stamp Image, Warm Winter Wishes – Pink Cat Studios
Copic Markers - BG45, Boo, YG67, YG63, RV29, RV00, RV02, V12, V15, V17, YR07,
YR04
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink – Tsukineko
Flower Soft
Twinkle Jewels
Glue Dots
Tape Runner
Buttons, DCW paper, Pearl Paper (unknown), metal word – Making Memories

Monday, February 15, 2010

Copic Monday-Installment #2





It’s time for Copic Monday again! I hope you’re ready to move on to Blending! I just want to say a quick thank you to those of you that left comments on this Blog. It means so much to me!!

This Monday we’re going to start on Blending. Once you get the hang of it, it’s so simple. There are a few ways to blend, either coloring darker to lighter or lighter to darker. I find it much easier to blend lighter to darker and that’s the technique we’ll be using today.

I do have a story to share with you. I have a friend who is 18-years old that comes over to visit me every so often and looks at my scrapbook/stamp room like I’m out of my mind. You all know what I’m talking about. People wonder why in the world we would spend money on paper and accessories, let alone have a separate room for our hobby. Right? Well Adrienne came over one night to find me coloring. After explaining what I was doing and what Copics were all about, she asked if she could try coloring. In my mind I’m thinking “this 18-year old, that has no crafting experience, is going to ruin my Copic markers!!” I caved. I stamped the image for her so that it was straight, etc. and set her off to coloring while I worked on something else. I showed her how to blend on a scrap piece of cardstock. That’s when I got a telephone call from a former co-worker that was in the hospital. I left the room. I kept checking in on her, amazed at what she was doing. She was even picking her own colors using the color-picking technique I taught her. I must have been on the phone for 30 minutes (I know, that is rude, isn’t it?), and when I was done, I came in to find this:


She did everything except put the ribbon and flowers on. Those I helped her with. But she had colored everything on her own and had the paper picked out. I was just floored. There is no reason that your coloring and blending can’t look like this either. All you really need to know in blending is how to pick your colors and where your “light source” is coming from.

These are the Copic markers we’ll be using to color in our stamped image. You’ll find at the end of this blog entry a list of my favorite colors, which are great for beginners.

Before we get started coloring, you’ll need to know where your “light source” is coming from. Here’s an example…if you have a light on the ceiling, and you take a look at yourself in a mirror, you’ll notice your hair highlights are on the top of your head. Now look at yourself in a mirror where you have lights in front of you. The highlights will be in the front of your hair. We’ll need to pick a “light source” for our image. I’ve decided to have that “light source” come from the top, as if a light was shining down on our monkey. You’ll see the marker pointing down on our light source.

Okay, first off, how to pick your colors. You’ll remember in the last Copic Monday Blog Entry we discussed the Copic Color Wheel. I went to my copy of the Copic Color Wheel and picked out my favorite Brown color. I then looked across the Copic Color Wheel grid and found a lighter brown and a darker brown. I did the same for the other two colors that I chose to use to color this image.

This is the stamped image we’ll be coloring in today.

I’m going to start coloring in part of the monkey with my lightest brown (E53) using the brush tip. We’ll get to the chisel tip in another blog entry. With the brush end, you’re going to start coloring, in circles, or at least trying to, in your image. When you get to smaller portions of the image, it gets harder to color in circles. We’re going to work in small areas, doing the face first. You do not want to color in ½ and image and then expect to come back in a few hours to blend. I like to blend in small areas.


Once we have the face completely colored in with our lightest brown color (E53), we’re going to move to the second darkest (E25). We’ll shade in his neck area, ears and forehead, where shadows would be. Remember, this doesn’t have to be neat. Then we’ll go back with our lightest brown (E53) to blend the color, again blending, coloring in small circles. We’ll move our brush tip and move the darker brown (E25) into the lighter color.

After we’ve blended the two colors, we’ll come in with our darkest brown (E29) and add some of our darkest shading, again in a very small portion of the neck area, ears and forehead. We’ll then move back to our lightest brown (E53) to blend. We’ll blend the same way we did before. Moving the darkest brown into the medium brown. Remember to use your circles. If you feel that the color isn’t moving enough, you may not be blending enough.

After you’re done with the face, you can move to the stomach area, or to the arms. I do each separately. Also, you’ll notice if you turn the cardstock over, you may see some bleeding. This is normal.

At this point, I’m going to move on to coloring another section of the image. I chose to color in the tree branch. I decided to use the same colors, just omitting the lightest brown (E53) and chose to use the medium and darkest browns (E25 and E 29). I’m going to color the entire branch the lighter brown (E25) and then I’m going to make the underside of the branch the darkest brown (E29).


Now I’m going to move on to coloring the face and belly of the monkey. I’m going to use B91, B93 and B97 the same way we did above.

I’m going to continue to color in the hearts using V000, V12 and V15, again, starting with the lightest shade and blending darker.

I decided that I loved Adrienne’s card so much, I’d copy her card, except I added some Glossy Accents (which you can find HERE) and glitter. Who ever would have thought that I would be copying the design of an 18-year old, who had never stamped or colored in her life!! Now she can’t wait for the next time!!

I really hope you enjoyed this Blog entry of Copic Monday. The next Copic Monday which will be March 1st, we’ll be working with a crazy little Copic marker called the Colorless Blender Pen, otherwise known as Kryptonite! You are going to be amazed by this marker!

Before I forget, make sure you head over to Cutters Creek. Cutters Creek is offering the readers of the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog a wonderful Copic Monday Special!! Purchase the Copic Markers I used in this weeks blog entry (B91, B93, B97, V000, V12, V15, E25, E29, E53, along with E000, E00 and R20, which are great for face and blush tones) and receive a FREE Copic Colorless Blender Pen. Again, purchase 12 markers and receive the Copic Colorless Blender Pen FREE! Woo Hoo!! (*NOTE* Due to the tremendous amount of snow in Maryland, deliveries to and from Cutters Creek could be delayed.)

And as I promised earlier, here is a list of my favorite color combinations.

Favorite Color Combinations


Reds - R22, R24, R29

Blues - B91, B93, B97

Green - G40, G21, G24

Violet - V000, V12, V15

Brown - E53, E25, E29

Yellow - Y00, Y11, Y21

Orange – YR21, YR23, YR24

Pink - RV04, RV17, RV19

Skin Tones - E000, E00, E11, R20 (Blush)

Thanks again and I’ll see you March 1st! Remember, if you have any questions at all, please free to post in the comment section. Have a great Monday!!!!

~Wendy Petrie

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Vicki's Happy Valentine's Day!





I really love this stamp, as I used it on my LAST card. My daughter loved the image, and she wanted a card for her boyfriend. It uses House Mouse...With All My Heart. This was my SECOND coloring attempt, and I think I did much better this time ;-)

I used Copics: G29, G28, G24, B34, B32, R29, R27, R24, E49, E47, E44 and the Colorless Blender.

The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, on Prism white card stock. I used paper I had in my stash...a background paper that was too busy to be left alone, but had the right blend of colors to match my image. I balanced the stripes out by 'grounding' my image and card background on solid red card stock. My hearts are actually Bazzill Chips, which are carried by Cutter's Creek. I used plain old markers to color these - NOT my Copics! The Bazzill chipboard pulls the color in very nicely - even though it might appear streaky when the ink is wet, it smooths out when it's dry! I balanced the hearts on a simple scrap of color coordinating ribbon. And of course, a touch of Twinkle Jewels to jazz up the embellishments. Stop by Cutters Creek and check out all these wonderful products today!

Supplies:
House Mouse Stamp
Copic Markers
Bazzill Chips
Memento Stamp Pad
Twinkle Jewels
Ribbon
Card Stock

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Wendy's Love Struck Party



I know a lot of you out there are in love with the newest Limited Edition mini Cricut Cartridge, Love Struck and so is Wendy. We all love the gorgeous intricate heart images, but have you checked out this 3D image on your cartridge yet? How cute is this mailbox?


Wendy made these for her son's Valentine's party and they are ready to receive mail deliveries from all of her son's classmates. I love the flag with the heart cut out and also the heart closure. I bet a lot of you mothers out there are whipping these up for your children's classrooms. I also love that Wendy cut out one of the solid hearts to add some extra personalization to each mailbox.

Wendy also made a little discovery when making all these cute mailboxes, Scor Tape! She finally opened her roll of Scor Tape and used it to assemble these. Her comment was, "Wow! Scor Tape is amazing and so easy to use!" If you have never tried Scor Tape, run to Cutters Creek and pick up some of this wonderful adhesive. It comes in 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", & 6"X6" sheets.

Supplies:
Love Struck Limited Edition Mini Cricut Cartridge
Scor Tape
Card Stock





Friday, February 12, 2010

Angela's Valentine Box


I may be dating myself, but when I was in grade school the weekend before Valentine's Day we had to make a box for our classmates to deposit all of our Valentine cards into. The idea being that all of your Valentine's would be delivered into your decorated box for you to take home. I loved this, but I was one of four children so I am not sure my Mom was as thrilled with this assignment! (picture four kids tearing apart the house trying to find shoe boxes to decorate) I decided for my granddaughter Grace's first Valentine's Day I wanted to make her a box.




I used a bunch of paper, punches, and ribbon I had on hand and then pulled out the Pink Cat Studio Stamps, my Copic markers, Spica glitter pens and of course Nestabilities. Now I just need to fill the box with some Gerber apple snacks and an outfit and drop it in the mail.

All these products can be purchased at Cutters Creek.
Supplies:
Pink Cat Studio Stamps
Copic markers
Spica glitter markers
Spellbinder Dies
Ribbon
Adhesive
Crop A Dile
Eyelets
Card Stock

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mandie's Frog Bag



Today I created a little gift bag that’s perfect for giving someone special a sweet treat for Valentine’s Day. I’m going to make 2 more and give them to my daughter’s pre-school teachers with gift cards and candy in them. To make this project you will need your Cricut Expression Machine with the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge, the Paisley cartridge and the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge. To begin I cut my frog and all of the layers from the Paisley - Paisley cartridge at 4”. Next I cut the bag from Plantin SchoolBook using the Tall Ball feature key. To determine the size I loaded a 12” x 12” piece of paper and selected the “Fit to Page” function key. Surprisingly the machine told me it was going to cut at 12.5” and the cute actually filled up the whole page! The bag is about 5” without the handle when it’s all assembled. Then I cut the round top tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More at 3” with the blackout feature on (I prefer to punch my own hole) and stamped “Hoppy Valentine’s Day!” on the front. As an alternative, there are also several cute tags on Plantin SchoolBook you could use. After I assembled the frog and my bag I simply tied on the tag with some lime green ribbon and added a little tissue paper!


All these items can be purchased at Cutters Creek.

Supplies:
Paisley Cricut Cartridge
Tags, Bags, Boxes, & More Cricut Cartridge
Adhesive
Card Stock

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Lea is Love Struck!



There is still plenty of time to whip up a romantic card for your sweetie! Creating a card is so easy with Cricut cartridges – so many wonderful choices when it comes to hearts, flowers, birds, and other loving sentiments. In addition, SCAL2, and MTC allows you to further personalize your card as you quickly design elements that work in tandem with Cricut cartridges. Cutter Creek has it all!

Both MTC and SCAL2 has shapes you can click on to create your designs. Hearts are already made for you, so all you have to do is click the shape, size, and cut. I do a lot of my own drawing, but if you can find a silhouette of a couple, use that and transform it (with MTC it is effortless) into an SVG file. Cutters Creek also has a designer who sells SVG files and I’m sure if you can’t find what you need, she can create it for you.

Love Struck was created by cutting 2 wavy rectangles one slightly smaller than the other. I liked the color combinations of red-pink-purple. A white rectangle was cut with a textured paper (Bazzill is great) and used Pebbles Chalk to add pink to it (Cutters Creek has several Palettes to choose from). The hearts, and the words were all creating within MTC software. The outline heart was found on the web and transformed into an SVG in 5 seconds!

I am having so much fun creating images and I have no technical talents what-so-ever. Between SCAL2 and MTC, I am doing designs I never thought I could do. The image below is of a simple card I made for a friend’s birthday. Cutting the shapes on plain or patterned paper can enhance the design. In this image I forgot about the patterned paper and just used plain Bazzill paper. I wanted to add some sparkle to the images so I used Sakura of America’s Glitter Gelly Roll Pens. You can use the Copic Spica pens for the same results.



All these wonderful products can be purchased here at Cutters Creek. Kim also has a group Cricutlovers which can help a newbie understand how to use the software, as well as SCALhints, and MTC yahoo groups to guide you along.

Supplies:
Bazzill Paper in various colors
MTC and/or SCAL2 Software
Cricut Expression
Zig Two-way Glue
Sakura of America Glitter Gelly Roll Pens or Copic Spica

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

New!!! Ultra Fine Flower Soft!! by Kim B



Yep! I am so loving the new Ultra Fine Flower Soft! It is so subtle and go gorgeous! That teddy bear I used two colors (toffee & sand) and used strawberry on the new Moments in Time topper on the girl's bow and black for the bear's nose. I also used sage for the grass and threw in some Copic Spicas and inking. And lastly, I added the peel offs for some more bling! I am so in love with the new Ultra Fine Flower Soft and am off to find more things to add this to! My second card I used the sage and raspberry fizz Ultra Fine Flower Soft and peel offs. I am pleased as punch that Flower Soft makes me look so talented with minimal work!
All these products can be found at Cutters Creek!
Supplies:
Flower Soft Ultra Fine
Moments in Time topper
Dovecoat toppers
Flower Soft peel offs
Flower Soft glue
Ink
card stock

Monday, February 8, 2010

Laura's Not So Happily Ever After


Sometimes we have pictures of those we loved in the past, but the romance didn't work out. The stories are part of our lives, and I think they should be scrapped, too. That was the case with this wedding photo. I had taken the picture out of the frame on my desk, but I didn't want to throw it away. It was beautiful. There were good and bad memories attached, so I decided the personal journaling needed to be hidden.





To start with I created a pocket on the back of the page using Scor-Tape around the two sides and bottom of the paper I chose (I used some scrap card stock since it wouldn't be seen). Next I used my Storybook Cricut Cartridge to cut out my title in and the shadow. Since my card stock was thick, I used the high pressure with the slow setting. I find this works best when cutting intricate items. I also cut my heart accent and shadow using the same cartridge. They may be hard to see, but I also cut some random marquee cuts from the Storybook cartridge to use behind my photo.

I really wanted a vintage, layered effect to capture the romance of that day.

Next I cut some random scalloped circles using Nestabilities and Spellbinders Dies. I wanted, again, a variety to obtain my layered effect. I inked the edges of each using my Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Rose and Tea Dye. They were so easy to soften using my blending tool and some scraps of flannel material.

I cut a square piece of card stock for my "notebook" page approximately 5" x 7". I punched the border to mimic a notebook page torn out and inked the edges again using Tim Holtz Distress Inks to give it a vintage feel.

I raided my great-grandmother's and grandmother's button boxes for ribbon, lace, tulle, and of course buttons. I prepared my paper flowers using self-adhesive rhinestones from Cutter's Creek in ice blue, yellow/green, and soft pink.

I cut my butterfly from printed card stock. I layered two together to get the dimensional effect using my Zig Two Way Glue Pen. I added in self-adhesive pearls in champagne to complete the look. The edges were tipped with Diamond Stickles.

To make the paper clip accent over my photo, I layered two small Nestabilities scalloped circles over a paper clip. I held them in place using a 1/2" Glue Dot. I chalked the edges using my Pebbles Shimmers Chalk. I attached two paper flowers using 3/8" Glue Dots and then added my self adhesive rhinestone center.

I also used the Pebbles Shimmers Chalks to accent my cut-outs. I really wanted a sparkly yet slightly vintage feel to the layout.

My photo is 5"x7". I cut the green card stock mat 5.5" x 7.5 inches. I punched my photo corners, and adhered my photo using my Glue Arts Permanent Glue "gun". I used my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen to affix my heart and title die cuts to their shadows. Next. I began layering my card stock pieces, Nesties cuts, laces, ribbons and tulle using my Glue Arts Glue Gun. I placed my photo and mat on the page using my Glue Arts Gun, and then I added my sewing trims around the photo mat using my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen. I affixed my flowers and buttons using my 3/8" & 1/2 " Glue Dots. I slid my paper clip accent over the photo mat and held it in place using a 1/2" Glue Dot.

Lastly, I added my title and heart cut outs using my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen. My final touch was the butterfly using a 3/8" Glue Dot.

I always change and use the adhesives that best suit my project and materials. The Zig Pen, Glue Arts Adhesives and Glue Dots are my favorite stand-bys for almost any project.

Lastly I typed out my story of how my marriage didn't end so happily ever after, but the day itself was wonderful and so memorable at the time. I did reminisce a bit about how we have such hopes and dreams one day, and how our lives can change in an instant. Since the journaling was so personal, I hid it in the pocket behind. I added ribbon to be able to pull the journaling up to read. You can see it at the top of the layout.

Products used in this project from Cutters Creek:

Cricut
Cricut StoryBook Cartridge
Spellbinders Scalloped Circle - Small
Spellbinders Scalloped Circle - Large
Pebbles Shimmers Chalks
Ranger Diamond Stickles
Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Inks
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Applicator
Self Adhesive Rhinestones
Self Adhesive Pearls
Glue Dots
Glue Arts Glue Gun
Zig 2 Way Pen

Remember, sometimes it is okay to scrapbook a love gone bad. It is part of what made you who you are~ Happy Valentine's Day!

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