Update: New Design Team Members

I know you want to know, and due to the Easter holiday, I am not telling until Monday April 5th! At that time, I will be posting who I have selected for the newest Cutters Creek Design Team. I will tell you, as a store owner, this is a hard thing to do. However I want to take this time to tell everyone who has applied past, present, and future that there are so many reasons I pick the people I do. A lot of it has to not only the ability to design, but how each of you fits in a team environment. Many of my members have different talents, so you are not seeing the same thing over and over. Anyone who was not picked, I so want to thank you for your efforts! I love all of you for wanting to be on my team! Please still want to be on my team, as your turn may come sooner than you think! Thank you ladies, with every fiber of my being!

Spring Flower Soft Bouquet by Laura

For this card Laura took a stamped this image on Bazzill (Prism) Cardstock in White with Memento black ink. Next she colored the image using her Copic sketch markers, including the areas where she planned to add the Flower Soft. For the textured flowers, she applied Flower Soft in layers using bright yellow, shamrock green, and sweet pea.

The background embossing was done using Cuttlebug folders both the full size and the borders collection. To distress the cardstock after embossing she used fine grit sandpaper. The edges of the image, image background and sentiment were chalked using Pebbles chalk for depth.

Products used that are available at Cutters Creek are:

Bazzill Cardstock
Memento Ink - Black
Copic Sketch Markers E00, E11, E21, R20, R21, Y13, G03, G14, BV01, BV04, YR23, Y26, E25, E34 and E33.
Flower Soft Glue & Flower Soft - bright yellow, shamrock green, and sweet pea.
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders
Scor-Tape
Glue Dots (Dimensional)
Pebbles Chalks

Design Team Entry-Melissa S

How cute is this card! I love how all the layers work with each other to make a finished look and all the tiny details are just gorgeous. I wish you could see the inside of this card too, however we are focusing on the front, as the inside just gives those finishing touches that made me just sigh with delight. I would love to receive this card from a friend, how about you? Please leave a comment to cheer Melissa on!

Design Team Entry-Sandi S.

Bling! Bling! Bling! The colors, flowers, and bling so remind me of Spring. What a gorgeous card! The details are all pulled together in such a way that it makes for an eye catching card and then you start looking at all the elements. I love how the stitching pulls this whole card together from top to bottom. Please leave Sandi a comment and show her some love!

Design Team Entry-Patricia L.

Everyone has birthdays and we all love cupcakes. I didn't notice, but my little stand covered up the "happy" in happy birthday. Don't you just love the faux stitching? I keep saying I am going to try this technique as I am just never going to sew in my pages, however this is a great substitute. Please leave a comment and leave Patricia some love!

Design Team Entry-Lori B

When I first saw this card, all I could think is...........I want to go to this BBQ! This is the cutest invitation! All the colors and details pull together so wonderfully and don't you just love the faux leather. Cute! Cute! Cute! Everyone, give Lori some love and tell us what you think!

Design Team Entry-Laura C.

Who doesn't like House Mouse stamps? Laura did an awesome job of coloring this stamp. But wait! There's more! Look at all the details and I love that she put a real bow on the top of one of the presents along the side of the card. The elements and colors pull together very nicely to make this card very festive! What do you think? Please leave a comment and let us know.

Friend Wordbook by Vicki

This is a book I cut out for my daughter to give to a few good friends of hers. Word books are a challenge for a lot of people, but once you've get one put together, you will realize that they really aren't that tough - especially if you use a file that has been shared by another designer! There are LOTS of videos available on YouTube - so take a few moments and look at some of those as well.

The file I used for this book was created by Fiona Sewell, who graciously shared her design with me. It was created in Design Studio, using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I have gotten her permission to share this file with all of you, and it is available on my 4Shared account here (http://www.4shared.com/file/244573525/3ed914d4/WB_FRIENDS_-PS_-CRAFTBUGMUM.html).

I use a thinner chipboard, which cuts nicely with my Cricut Expression, and a really sticky mat, so the chipboard doesn't move during the cuts. I use multi-cut 2 or 3, depending on the intricacy of the cut.

The first cuts I do are the chipboard - so go thru ALL the letter pages once in chipboard. Then, I do the paper topping/backing for each letter. I like to use double sided paper for my letters - because I know that the front and back will coordinate nicely. This way, I can cut the letter once on the page, then take out my mat, rotate it 180 degrees, and put it in for the second letter. By doing this, I don't have to worry about 'flipping' my paper upside down to get the backing letter to cut right on the patterned paper. So - if you don't use double sided paper - remember to flip your paper upside down to cut the backing part of the letter. Finally, I use a solid paper to cut the individual letters, so that the letters stand out on top of the patterned paper.

Some people like to 'ink' the edges of the book so that the chipboard doesn't look 'unfinished'. This is a personal decision...not just if you want to ink, but also when to ink. For some books, I ink before I adhere my paper - so that the patterns of the paper are not distressed. For this book, I inked AFTER I adhered the paper - which distresses the paper a bit, and gives it a pretty, finished look.

Once everything is cut, it's time to start adhering the book together. My favorite adhesive for this job is Zip Dry! It doesn't dry too fast, so you have time to adjust the paper on the chipboard perfectly. It does not bubble, and dries clear, so even if you get some oozing out, it doesn't show up! The solid letters can be adhered with Zip Dry, or any other adhesive, like the Glue Glider Pro. For this book, I distressed the solid letters ever so slightly, to match with the other distressing done on the edges, and the pattered papers.

Since this is a gift, we didn't have the pictures that will be added to the book, so we just added some journaling boxes and embellishments randomly thru the book. That way, the recipient can add pictures wherever they would like, and there are already decorative touches added, to dress the book up.

I used my Crop-a-Dile II to punch the holes in each page, and used O-rings to bind the book. I could have used my Bind-It-All, but this was a gift for a teenage girl, and I wasn't sure how thick the book would end up, so O-rings were safer! My daughter decorated the O-rings with pretty ribbons, just to give the rings a little flair.

So - don't be afraid - go ahead and try it. If you're nervous about the 'flipping' of letters, try it out first on paper that you don't like - everyone has some of that in their stash! Practice a few times, to make sure you get the concepts...then you can go ahead and do the real thing with prettier paper!

Good luck & happy scrapping!

The following items can be purchased from Cutters Creek:
Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge
Design Studio
Zip Dry Adhesive

Sweet 16 Card & Bookmark from Laura

Happy Birthday Sweet 16~

I wanted to do a fun little card with a keepsake for a friend's daughter's sweet 16 birthday party. I found this card with the bookmark on an online tutorial, and I then went about customizing it to suit my needs.

My cardstock is cut at 4.25 x 11 inches for this project. I scored it at 4 1/4 and 8 5/8. At the 8 5/8 line, I used my perforating blade to make the perforation for the bookmark. This is one project where I was wishing for the Scor Pal from Cutters Creek!

Next I cut a piece of my white Prism (now Bazzill) Cardstock at 4 x 4 inches and I rounded the corners using my corner chomper. I cut a second piece at 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" and followed the same steps. I then cut a larger 4" x6" piece of cardstock to run through my machine with my Cuttlebug folder (Paisley). I sanded the entire image to reveal the inner white core. After it was sanded, I cut a piece at 3 3/4" x 3 3/4", and another at 2" x 2". I rounded the corners on all of these pieces as well.

I loaded a piece of my Prism (Bazzill) cardstock in my Cricut, and cut out the marquee piece using my Home Decor cartridge. I set my size to 2". I stamped it with my Inkadinkado stamp using my Memento black ink, and set it aside. I also cut the matching frame for the sentiment using a scrap a black cardstock. I stamped my remaining scraps of Prism Cardstock with my Inkadinkado stamps using various cupcakes. I cut them out using my Fiskers circle punch and/or scalloped circle punch.

For the numbers, I used some leftover chipboard letters. I dressed them up with my Sakura Souffle pens using lavender, teal, pink, yellow and blue. I set them aside to dry.

Now for the fun part! Coloring the cupcakes! I love coloring since I got my Copics from Cutter's Creek! They are such amazing pens. It is a miracle the dogs haven't been colored yet! For a little added interested, I added the Spica red to the cherry on each cupcake


After all of the pieces were ready, it was time for assembly.

Front: I adhered the largest section of the textured and sanded cardstock to the white layer of cardstock using my Glue Glider Pro. I attached that to the card base. Next I added my numbers using the Scor Tape. Next I used the Glue Glider and the Scor Tape to attach the sentiment to the card, and lastly, I used a Glue Dot to add the Cupcake element.


For the bookmark I layered the cardstock elements and added them the same way as for the front. I used my Glue Dots to add the cupcake element, and lastly I added the sentiment using my Glue Glider Pro. For the ribbons, I punched a hole and added an eyelet to loop my ribbon using my trusty Crop-o-Dile. I used an eyelet so it would be stronger and last longer.


I hope you enjoy this card. The products available from Cutters Creek Store are:

Copic Markers
Copic Spica Markers
Sakura Souffle Pens
Cricut Cartridge Home Decor
Fiskars Punches
Crop-o-Dile
Corner Chomper
Prism (now Bazzill) White Cardstock
Cuttlebug Folder Paisley
Inkadinkado Stamps
Memento Ink
Pebbles Chalks
Scor Tape
Glue Glider Pro
Glue Dots

Design Team Entry: Teryl Z.

How cute is this card? It exudes Spring, which I am so dying for to get here and stay after a very long Winter. I really love that flower brad too! What do you think? Please leave us a comment.

~Kim B

Design Team Entry-Chris P

This card, all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW................lol! so much going on and not enough words to say! I love all the flowers, the liquid applique, the ink, the ribbon, and how "Springy" it is! My photo does not do this justice, however I am sure you all know how that goes. Post a comment and let me know what you think.

~Kim B

Make It Monday Blinkies~

For easier download here are the two blinkies without links attached. You can save them to your computer by using the right click button on your mouse, choose save file, and they will be downloaded to your computer.

To upload them to your blog go to customize, and add a picture. Select the file from where you saved it in the computer. Then copy and paste the link address into the link field. Save this, and they should appear on the side of your blog.







Link the Cutter's Creek blinkie to http://www.cutterscreek.com

Link the Design Team entry blinkie to http://cutterscreekdesignteam.blogspot.com

If you have any questions, we will be happy to help. I know the instructions above are very abbreviated.

Design Team Entry-Carol E!

This card is a beauty! I tried to not get a bright reflection from all the glitter, so this card is actually much brighter in person. I love all the glitter details on the ornament and also the pearl and rhinestone details. This is a Christmas card I would love to receive and would save for sure! Carol did a really good job! What do you think?

~Kim B

Make it Mondays

Yipppeee!!

Today is the very first Make It Monday at Cutters Creek! We will issue a Monday challenge. Each person who completes the challenge, and adds the Cutter's Creek Store Blinkie & Design Blog Blinkie, and is a follower of the Cutters Creek Design Team blog will be entered into the drawing. Each week there will be a new prize! The winner will be drawn randomly by Random.org based on all eligible entries. Post your completed project to your blog, add the two blinkies, and then come back and enter your name and blog address into Mr. Linky! The deadline for entries will be the following Sunday night at Midnight Pacific Standard Time. The winner will be announced no later than the following Tuesday night at Midnight Pacific Standard Time. One entry per person per week.

Please ask any questions you may have!
Now for the fun part! Monday's challenge is:
Make a card or scrapbook layout (your choice) using the following products and/or techniques:

Use a die cut image from your Cricut. At least two corners must be rounded (we recommend using We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper) Use ribbon. Use a stamped image enhanced with either Flower Soft, Copics, or Pebbles Chalks. Use patterned paper of your choice. Use solid paper of your choice.

That is it!

Here are the entries from our design team members:

Vicki's Card:

Vicki used these products from Cutters Creek:

• Pink Cat Studios Stamp - Lilly & Billy Sweethearts
• Copic Markers
• Cricut's Lyrical Letters Cartridge
• Corner Chomper
• Glue Glider Pro
• Glossy Accents
• Twinkle Jewels

Mandie's Card:


Mandie Used:

Cricut's Home Decor Cartridge
Stamp - Pink Cat Studios
Copic Markers
Corner Chomper
Zip Dry Glue
Tombow Mono Adhesive


Laura's Card:


Laura used:

• Cricut's EveryDay Paper Dolls Cartridge
• Copics
• Inkadinkado Stamp - Sentiment (re-lined with my .03M Copic Black Liner)
• Glue Glider Pro, Beacon's 3 in 1 Adhesive, Scor-Tape, Glue Dots
• Corner Chomper

We can't wait to see what you design!~ This weeks' prize will be Prism (now Bazzill) cardstock! Remember to enter your name and the link to your project below:




Make it Mondays Participants

1. Laura B. BoxerBratsScraps

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Vicki's Blingy Easter Layout

I was one of the guilty one's...I was waiting on the edge of my seat for Cutters Creek to get the American Crafts glitter paper in stock. As soon as Kim posted the Spring pack, I was online placing that order! When it came, I was AMAZED! This paper is so pretty, so glittery, and so sturdy! It just screamed 'little girls' and I have twin godchildren in Kindergarten that I'm pretty sure will get some very pretty dresses to take pictures in! So, I created a simple, pre-made layout that my niece will be able to quickly add two photos to, and add to her scrapbook!

If you are a member of the Cutter's Creek Yahoo! group, you have probably seen the messages coming through discussing the best settings to use to cut this paper with your Cricut. Start with the following:
Pressure: High
Blade Depth: 6
Multi-Cut: 2
...and be prepared to ADJUST these settings for your Cricut. I had to do multi-cut 3, and still had a few areas that needed cleaned up, however, I probably need to change my blade as it is rather well-used. Intricate cuts, such as the grass on the bottom of my layout, will also require some help from a razor blade, to finish some of the cuts and clean up the edges. Simple shapes, like the egg SVG's, cut cleanly and quickly! I did have one boo-boo, where I put my paper on the mat in the wrong direction (I hate when that happens) - but rather than throw away the bad cut, I placed an egg on the 'edge' and made it look like it belonged there!

Adhering this paper to your layouts does not require any special adhesive. I tried several, to see what had the best success, but there was no single adhesive method that worked better than another. I love Glossy Accents, and turn to that as a regular adhesive when I've failed with other adhesives. I used that for the words "Happy Easter" - and did get some paper buckling under one of the corners...but other than that, all my favorite adhesives worked just fine!

I can't wait to see their pictures pasted in these sheets!

Visit Cutters Creek for all of your crafting needs!

Cartridges Used:
Storybook (Happy Easter)
Locker Talk (Flowers)
Zooballoo (Grass)

SCAL - Egg SVG - bottom (Thanks to Diane from Capadia Designs, see her blog here: http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/scalloped-easter-egg-card-more-details.html)

Adhesives - Glossy Accents, Glue Glider Pro
Twinkle Jewels (flower centers)

Spring Has Sprung with Mandie

Today’s project is a quick and easy spring card using your Wild Card Cricut Cartridge. This cartridge makes all sorts of cute cards but if you want to cut the envelopes at a usable size, I recommend using the Cricut Expression Machine to cut them.

Before you begin, make sure that “Real Dial Size” is turned OFF. In order to figure out what size card I wanted to cut I cut the envelope first using the “Fit to Page” feature. This feature on your machine will determine the largest size of the cut you would like to make that will fit on your page.

For this particular card the machine determined that 4 ¾” would be the cut size. You will need to remember this size for your card. I cut the envelope in blue and green. Then I cut the grass part off of the green envelope and adhered it to the blue part, trimming any excess.


For this project Zip Dry Paper Glue is great, the liquid glue gives you time to line up the cuts and gives you a super strong bond with no wrinkles in your paper. Next I set my dial to 4 ¾” and loaded in the yellow card stock to cut my card and the flowers (Liner Function Key). Then I cut a piece of blue card stock at 4 ¾” square and adhered in to the inside of my card for contrast. To finish off my card an envelope I added a few paper flowers from my enormous stash and added rhinestones to the centers of all of the flowers. I also cut two circle of my yellow card stock with a 1 ½” punch so I could give the inside of the flower card a finished look and so my sentiment would stand out. Now it’s ready to brighten up someone’s day!




Product List:
Cricut Expression Machine
Wild Card
Zip Dry

Please Pardon Our Dust............

................while we revamp the Cutters Creek Design Team & Blog. More info to come very soon!

Vicki Is Rockin' With Hannah

I didn't have a specific subject in mind for this card. I received a new cartridge from my best gal pal (Thanks Karen!) for my birthday, and I just HAD to try it out! I am now the proud owner of the Cricut Disney Hannah Montana cartridge!

For all of you who think that this cartridge is only for "tweens" - think again! There are only one or two keys that are specific to Hannah Montana. This cartridge has four awesome fonts - two with shadow features, some great musical shapes, a music staff end-cap feature, and pretty butterflies and hearts! I used the "Daddy's Girl" feature for my main font, font shadow, music notes and guitar, and the "Rock Star" feature for the word "ROCKIN". I ran all of my letters through my Xyron, as I believe that is the easiest way to adhere small fonts. I used a Sakura Glue Pen to adhere the dot to my 'i' and the handle of the guitar. The Sakura pen lets you put adhesive exactly where you need it, which is important for small, intricate parts!

In order to make the word "ROCKIN" really stand out, I covered it in Glossy Accents. I liked the effect so much, that I made the entire face of the guitar glossy as well. The music notes are glitzed up with Stickles 'Star Dust'.

This card is geared towards a girl, with the colors of pink and black, but you could easily change it to a boy by changing all the pink accents to blue or green.


So - all of you girly girls out there - take another look at the Disney Hannah Montana cartridge...I think you'll find a tiara in just your size ;-)

These and other supplies can be purchased at Cutters Creek:

Hannah Montana Cricut Cartridge

Glossy Accents

Sakura Quickie Glue Pen

Xyron Sticker Maker

Cardstock

Laura's Spring & Fun Birthday Card

I just fell in love with this image. I received it from a friend, and I hadn't had the courage to color it in. After reading Wendy's Copic Monday posts, I decided I could do it. I got out my Copic markers, and finally took the plunge. I am so happy with how it turned out! Blending with the Copics was so much easier than I even dreamed it could be.

Now back to the project! I used basic white cardstock for the base. I used my corner rounder on two corners. I cut my patterned paper 1/2 smaller than my card base, and rounded two corners as well. I found some coordinating ribbons, and made my "bow" by tying one section in a knot around my longer piece of ribbon.

My card image was stamped using Memento Black Ink. I used my Copic Markers as follows:

For her face, I used E000, E00, E11, E21, and R20.

For her hair I used YR23, YRo4 and E25.

For her shirt, I blended down V93 to V17 for a slight tie-dye effect.

For her overalls, I used B97 for the darker shading, then B91 and B93.

For the flower I used Y000, Y11, and Y13. For the center I used YR04 and E29. I then added Diamond Stickles over the top for some sparkle.

For her tennis shoes, I used RV21 RV02 and Rv21.

I used my Copic Liner pen .03 to darken up the lines that weren't stamped perfectly, and to add the lines on the tennis shoes.

I used my Peebles Chalks in Basic Brights to color the edges of my image and then mounted it to a piece of coordinating cardstock using my Glue Glider Pro. I rounded the corners, and then I edged the cardstock with my chalks.

I used my Glue Glider Pro to mount the image to my patterned paper, and then I used my Scor-Tape 1/8 inch to adhere my ribbon to the patterned paper. Next I mounted it all to the card base using my Glue Glider Pro.

I had some cute little alphabet stickers laying around that I used to add the name of the recipient (my husband's first and only granddaughter, Emily)




On the inside, I stamped a cupcake image on my Prism white cardstock using Memento Black Ink. I then used more of my amazing Copics to color my image.

For the cupcake paper, I used G20, G24 and G82.

For the frosting, I used Rv21 and R23

For the candle, I used V93 and V95.

For the flame, I blended Y11 with YR04.

For the dots around the cupcake, I used YR04.

I mounted the finished image on my cardstock cut in a scalloped cirlce using my Spellbinders Circles. I colored the edges of both cut-outs using my Pebbles Chalks in Basic Brights.

I added more of my lettering stickers, and a chipboard "1" for "Happy First Birthday".



On the back I had to add my namesake boxer dog image using my Glue Glider Pro. I decided to try something different. I used stamped my handmade stamp using Versamark ink, and then colored it using my Peebles chalks. I used my Copic .03M Black liner marker for the lettering.

~and that is my finished project.

Many of the products used in this project are available from Cutters Creek:

Copic Sketch Markers:

E000, E00, E11, E21, R20

YR23, YRo4, E25, E29

V93, V95, V17

B97, B91, B93

Y000, Y11, Y13

Copic Liner pen .03

G20, G24 and G82

Rv21, R23

Glue Glider Pro

Peebles Chalks in Basic Brights

Scor-Tape 1/8"

Prism White Cardstock

Spring Card by Mandie

This week’s project is a quick and easy card! With the weather finally starting to look warmer out I was in the mood for spring! To make this card I made a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” base from white cardstock. Then I cute my blue patterned paper to 4 ¼” x 5 ½” and adhered it to the front of my card with my Tombow Mono Adhesive. Next I cut the tree branch at 4” and my bird (regular in pink, shadow in white) at 2” with the Home Decor Cricut Cartridge. The branch is a little long but I just trimmed the end. I used my Quickie Glue Roller Pen to adhere the layers of the bird as the tree branch to my card. Next I used my Flower Soft Glue to fill in the wing of the bird. Then I sprinkled Polar White Flower Soft on the wing.

Next I made little dots with my Flower Soft Glue on the tree branch where real flower buds would be. Then I sprinkled the Baby Pink Flower Soft onto those dots.

Last I stamped the word “Spring” onto a piece of white cardstock with brown ink and added the pink cardstock mat and adhered it to the front of my card. Now it’s ready to bring a little spring to someone special!

Products Used:
Baby Pink Flower Soft
Polar White Flower Soft
Flower Soft Glue
Home Decor Cricut Cartridge
Tombow Mono Adhesive
Quickie Glue Roller Pen

Kim B's Every Day Paper Doll

Here is a simple scrapbook page I did using the Every Day Paper Doll Cricut cartridge. I cut the cat image and used my spicas to to draw in the cut lines and my copics to give the kitty some blush. I then taped a piece of glitter paper using my scor tape, behind the cat's nose and added some glossy accents to the nose, and finished off with some googly eyes. I then matted my photos and started putting my page together. This was another easy page, as I kept is very simple so that I could show off what I really want to be seen, my dear grand daughter. Many of these supplies are available over at Cutters Creek!

Suppiles:
Every Day Paper Doll Cricut Cartridge
Scor Tape
Glossy Accents
Spica Glitter Pens
Copic Markers
Rhinestones
Card Stock
Alpha Stickers

Copic Monday will be delayed :(

Wendy has come down with a bug and has been ill the last few days. As soon as she gets her project completed, we will get it posted ASAP. Thank you for your understanding! I hope these flowers will perk Wendy up, and please post well wishes for her!

~Kim