Mandie's "Discover" Card

I've always been fascinated with quilting. I love the look and the texture but... I don't sew. I'm not that patient, and it's harder to "embellish" mistakes on a quilt. I can't just pop a cute flower over it! So, I decided to make a quilt with paper. I was flipping through an outdated AAA Travel Guide and I was looking at all of the beautiful photos and thought, "These would make a beautiful paper quilt!" so I grabbed my trimmer and started cutting.


I took a handful of photos that I liked and cut them into 1/2" strips. Then I started playing. I arranged them so my floral elements were on one side and my mountain/rock elements were on the other. I just loved the little fish so he became my center point. I adhered my strips into a log cabin pattern and thought it needed something more. So I pulled out my Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle Paint. This stuff is AMAZING! You get a beautiful fine crackle and it dries pretty fast if you do a thin coat. After painting it on with the attached to the lid brush and letting it dry I decided to add a little more depth to the cracks so I added a little bit of Walnut Stain Distress Ink.


I wanted my background to have the same organic feel as my photos so I used more Distress Ink in Ripe Persimmon (from the LE Fall collection) and Peeled Paint. Then I splashed some water on it, using some big drops and small ones to get the effect you see. Then I added some corduroy ribbon with some Scor Tape and a few brads and finally added the "Discover" with my label maker. Finally, I used some Foam Adhesive to pop up all my layers.

At the Movies - Goodwill Upcycle with Lori

I'm a regular shopper at Goodwill, and I always have to cruise through the aisles of home decor and storage.  I fell in love with this tin immediately, because it's larger around and shorter than the round tins I usually see, and because of its finish (a slightly pinkish gold color with a rough feel).  I've been looking for the perfect tin for a project I've had in mind for a while and this was it.

Here's what I pulled out to work with at home:

I had my bargain tin, my At The Movies stamp set, Copic markers, and Faux Metal Peel & Stick (Duck brand).  I had all the makings of a perfect movie night gift.

First, I used my Make The Cut software (and my electronic cutter that shall not be named) to cut a movie reel image slightly smaller than the size of my tin.  (You can also trace an image on the back of the Peel & Stick and cut by hand.)  After weeding out the leftover Peel & Stick, I used Copic markers in C3, C5, and E37 to make it look duller & older.  I colored all over with C3, then I added random spots of C5 near the edges, and some small areas of E37 to look like the beginnings of rust.  When I finished, I stuck my movie reel cut to the lid of my tin.

Next, I pulled out the At The Movies stamps and some black Staz On ink.  I stamped the film strip leader onto a report cover (a transparency would work too).  I carefully used my Copic E37 marker to add brown spots to the "film strip" to make it look aged.  Remember that Staz on is also alcohol based, so things will start bleeding and blending if you let the marker ink touch the stamped image.  A little is OK in this case, but not something you normally want.  Using Memento black ink, I stamped the movie listing and a couple of tickets on cardstock and sponged on some brown ink for an aged look.  I tore out the movie listing and cut out the tickets, added some folds, and used more ink direct to paper.  I adhered everything to the tin lid using Scor Tape and Kool Tak clear foam squares.

Lastly, I made a popcorn wrap using the popcorn stamp, Memento ink, and a Copic marker in Y11 on the X-Press blending card.  I stamped the image a second time in red and cut out the "pop corn" center and adhered it.  I layered it on black CS some old Graphic 45 paper I had from the Playtimes Past line, and adhered the ends with Scor Tape.  This will make a great gift by adding a classic movie and some more snacks.  I think I'm saving mine for a Father's Day gift!

Items available at Cutters Creek:

• At The Movies stamp set, Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz
• Copic Markers in C3, C5, E37, Y11
• X-Press Blending Card
• cardstock
• Staz On ink pad, black
• Memento ink pad, Tuxedo Black and Lady Bug or Rhubarb
• sponge daubers
• Scor Tape, 1/2" wide
• ASI Kool Tak 3-D clear foam squares

Other:

• pattern paper of your choice
• brown ink of your choice, for distressing
• round tin
• Faux Metal Peel & Stick  (I think I found it at Lowe's near the Contact Paper)
• plastic report cover or transparency

Live Life with Joy Card by Deanna M

I was able to get a package of the laser cut wooden embellishments from Kaisercraft. Wow, I love them. They are super thin, about the thickness of a dime. (I tried to get a picture but just couldn’t get it clear enough).  There is a wide assortment of different embellishments to chose from, like birds, birdcages, there are some gorgeous butterflies, dress forms. If you are interested in any of them just let Kim know at Cutter’s Creek and she can special order them for you. If there is enough interest we might be able to talk her into stocking them in the store.
For my card today, I started with a 4 1/4” X 5 1/2” white card stock card base. I added a mat cut to 4” X 5 1/4” cut from some Gemstone Core’denations cardstock. I love this cardstock, it is shiny, with a great glimmer. My patterned paper is cut at 3 3/4” X 5” from the Howdy Doody My Minds Eye paper pad.
For my wooden embellishment, I first sprayed it with 4 coats of Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist, allowing it to dry thoroughly between coats. Then I gave it a quick coat of Hammered Copper Glimmer Glam (another item that Kim will happily order for you). I used some Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive to attach my wooden embellishment to my card. I added a foam dot into the middle of the flower (the flower center was not solid). For my flower center I used a 3-D Glue Dot and dipped it into some Citrus Crush Ultra Fine Flower Soft. I used my finger to press the flower soft into the glue dot. I kept the glue dot on the paper backing until I was ready to adhere it to my flower center.
I used some Wild Honey Distress Ink to stamp my sentiment. To finish my card I added a rhinestone flourish from Want 2 Scrap that I just cut to fit the areas of my card.
Please be sure to leave us a comment and let us know if you are interested in these laser cut embellishments.

Mandie's Gift Box

Today I'd like to show you a fun gift box that I created. I used some fabulous Echo Park Paper, Distress Ink and Adirondack Paint Daubers, and Glimmer Mist!


First I painted all of the edges of my box with the Pitch Black Adirondack Paint Dauber and let it dry. Then I cut my Echo Park Papers (these are from the Be Mine line but you could easily use any of the gorgeous lines they have) to be slightly smaller than each side of my box. Then I inked the edges of everything with the Black Soot Tim Holtz Distress Ink.


Next I created my spiral roses. I used a variety of circles that were cut into a spiral shape. I used scalloped scissors on a couple. Then I rolled them into the flower shape. To give them a little bling, I added some Pink Bubblegum Glimmer Mist and then let them dry.


I adhered my roses to the box with some Glue Dots and added some mirrored paper leaves. Then I used Scor Tape to add the ribbon around the middle of the box. Finally, I used my Crop-A-Dile to add holes and eyelets to the sides of the box and threaded some ribbon through for a handle.

Just Saying Hello Card by Deanna M

I have a fun spring card for you today. My card base is white smooth Bazzill card stock cut and  scored to 4 1/4" X 5 1/2". I added a mat from the My Minds Eye Fiddlesticks 6" X 6" paper pad. The new My Minds Eye paper pads are fabulous. I cut the wood grain mat (don't you just love it!) at 4" X 5 1/4". Then I added a strip of the reverse side of the paper cut at 1 1/2" X 4". I cut my image from the Kate's ABC cartridge at 3". I used the Cricut Imagine Nursery Tails cartridge for my pattern on the watering can and my flowers. I used a white gel pen to add some doodle dots to my flowers and some faux stitching to the watering can and the polka dot mat. I then adhered everything to my card front and used some Flower Soft Adhesive and some Meadow Flower Soft around the edge of my watering can. I wanted it to look like it was sitting in the grass. Finally I added my sentiment with some Memento Rich Cocoa Ink and added some stickles to my flower centers.

Cutters Creek Announces Guest Designers!

So I decided to do a Design Team call to get a couple guest designers to help out the Design Team while we have two members on medical leave.  I had a lot of awesome ladies apply and just wish I could have taken all of them!  But alas, I only have room for two at this time.  I hope you will enjoy their work as much as I have looking over it and admiring it.  So please welcome Tee & Pebbles!  You can read all about them HERE or go to the meet the Design Team page on our blog.  These are two lovely and talented women whom I am so very proud to have on my team.  They will begin their official Design Team duties April 1st, so keep your eyes peeled for our newest designers! If you would like to leave a comment and welcome them, I am sure they would enjoy everyone cheering them on!!

My Minds Eye Birthday Card by Chris

Another easy peasy 4.25 x 5.5 card. Make your card base and cut 5 strips of MME paper. I used 4 pieces from the Sunshine pack and one from the Blush pack. Each strip is about 1 1/8 inches wide with a bit of fudging to cover the front. Then I took another piece from the Sunshine pack and traced the outside of my Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Tags Two. This created a shadow effect for my label, which I cut from a piece of tan cardstock and stippled with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Rich Cocoa Memento Ink was used to stamp the sentiment and a pearl flourish from my stash finished the card.

M-Bossibilities Tutorial by Deanna M

I just received a couple of the M-Bossiblities by Spellbinder and of course had to try them out and wanted to share how fun these are.

Splendid and Simplicity M-Bossiblities

I embossed a couple of the 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" Cut and Emboss paper packs from Core'denations. What great papers, I love them and they are the perfect size for cards. Look at the great colors you get.

Top side

Colored Side

This card is a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" white card base. I cut a red mat 4" X 5 1/4" and my embossed white washed mat was embossed with the Splendid M-Bossibilites folder that I sanded with my sanding block. My butterfly is cut at 2.75" from the Once Upon a Princess cartridge. I used Elegant Edges to cut the scalloped oval and stamped my sentiment with some Festive Berries Distress Ink which was part of the Limited Edition Winter colors. Finally I finished off the butterfly with some Diamond Ice Stickles and added to my card with some clear foam squares.


Here is a short video to show you how you can use the M-Bossiblities and the Cut and Emboss paper. There are several different types of the Cut and Emboss paper I am showing you just two same with the M-Bossiblities folders. Be sure to pop on over to Cutterscreek.com to check out the assortment available through the store.

This & That Echo Park Layout and a Contest with Lori

If it seems like the This & That collections have been getting a workout from our DT, there's good reason - they are awesome!! Echo Park has really knocked one out of the, well, park, with these beautiful designs from Lori Whitlock. My favorite part is that the two collections, Charming and Graceful, can work together as well as they do alone.

Today, I'd like to share with you a beautiful layout I created using a contest sketch from Echo Park.

Would you believe there is not a single piece of solid color on this layout anywhere?  I just love the easy way the patterns are able to be mixed & matched so easily.  All of these papers are from the Graceful collection, except the green pattern I used for the banner; that is from Charming.  I distressed the edges of the pink & brown papers, used a stamp to duplicate stitching, and used some twine on which to hang my banner stickers.  I also used some of the coordinating embellishments, which Kim does not carry, but you can also use stickers & items from your stash.

Items available from Cutters Creek:

• Echo Park Paper, This & That Charming and Graceful collections
• twine (choose from Doodlebug Designs or Sew Easy)

Now, about that contest I mentioned.  I'm not able to share that sketch here, because you have to get it yourself.  If you'd like to find out all of the details, as well as see a second page to this layout using the same sketch, be sure to visit my blog when you're all done here. 

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I hope everyone is having a great St. Patrick's Day! My project for today is not a St. Patrick's Day project, but it does have some green in it in honor of the holiday. For this project, I really wanted to focus on the paper. If you're like me, one of the first things that attracted you to paper crafting was all the pretty paper. I used to love to go to a Scrapbook store and load up on different sheets of paper. The problem was when I got home and got ready to use them, none of them matched. I was always scrambling and trying to find a pink close to the shade of pink in the paper I just had to use. Now, I buy packs of paper. I buy the 6 x 6 size to use for card making and the 12 x 12 packs for scrapbooking. I made this little card using several different patterns from one of the Echo Park 6 x 6 pads.

All the color matching and the pattern picking has been done for me. I know all the colors in this pack coordinate perfectly, the only thing I have to do is narrow down which ones I want to use. I especially love how they give you a few solid sheets in the same colors to use as matting like I have done in this card. The only color matching I need to do is to pick copics close to the colors in the papers to color my image. I added a bright yellow Cutters Creek brand flower to the right corner and I was done. It doesn't take long at all to make a card when you don't spend 30-40 minutes trying to find the right shade of cardstock.

Cutters Creek Shopping List
copic markers
Echo Park paper
Cutters Creek branded flowers

A Little Bit of This and That....

Yep....isn't that what the creative process is all about? We take
pretty paper, buttons, twine, bling, and imagination, and we create.

We get our inspiration in different places....for me, the letters for
my scrap space, that have been sitting for almost a year.....were
gathering dust. Until....the This and That collection from Echo
Park(EP). The colors, the patterns, even the stickers....I just
knew it had what I'd been waiting for.....do you ever have that
happen? I'll bet you do....when those perfect pics, or that perfect
embellishment, just comes along as the perfect combo to make
something beautiful.

These types of letters are available at most craft stores, and
they are truly fun (and easy) to decorate....especially with
Echo Park! I'll do a very quick "walk thru" of the project one
letter at a time....

Everything was done using the new EP This and That Graceful
12x12 kit--and all pieces inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.



On this letter "C", the banner is from the border strip paper in
the kit, (I cut the banners out, and strung them on twine, then
embellished with buttons). Flora Doodles...yes I'm using these
again....since I rescued them from the deep dark recesses of my
craft closet, I'm having fun using these....they come in a rainbow
of colors and are a great little accent!

Next up, the letter "R"....
Simple, simple!! Twine, Flora Doodles, and Kaiserkraft bling is all
there is to it! The upper left corner under the button, and then
the little banner....off the EP sticker sheet!

And for "E".....
More pretty little Flora Doodles, mixed with sticker sheet stickers,
bottom left...twine, more "doodles"....and the large flower is a
sticker, and I fussy cut a small flower from the EP paper, and
added an American Crafts pearl brad as a pretty center.

And "A"....
The word beautiful....from that sticker sheet...and Flora Doodles,
of course (seeing a theme here....lol) and a pretty butterfly from
my stash.

Then for "T"....
The larger flower is two fussy cut flowers from the paper layered
up with the button and twine center. The little banners....yep,
more stickers, and a bit more bling and buttons....can never have
enough of those....lol.

And finally....the 2nd "E"....

The large flower is two flowers fussy cut from the floral print, with
a brad center (AC), the "vine" is from the sticker sheet, and
then a bit more of the button, twine and bling to finish it off.

Once again, I'm blown away by the versatility of these Echo Park
kits!! Kim has quite the selection in the store, and each and every
one is fantastic.

Just imagine the possibilities....yep....time to CREATE!!

Laser Wood Cuts With Cutters Creek

Along my travels vending around my area, I have had many requests to sell laser cuts and I came across these wood laser cuts by Kaisercraft.  They are very light weight and there are so many possibilities that can be done with these items!  I did a video upon opening the packages for the first time, so you could take a tour with me and check them out being used just like you would when you received them for the first time.  I went back and finished a few of the ones started in the video up a bit more after I stopped filming and here is a comparison photo of some of the items I that were done in the video.  The items on the top row are bare wood and the items on the bottom row are of some of the different techniques I used:

So if I have peaked your interest, watch the video below and let me know what you think.  Should Cutters Creek sell these?  Please let me know by leaving your comments after watching the video:

Nestabilities and MME Paper by Chris

Once again I turned to my Spellbinders Nestabilities and threw some My Mind’s Eye paper into the mix. Using the largest of the Petite Scallops dies I cut two circles from some black cardstock. I mounted a sentiment (printed on my computer) on one and set it aside for the inside of my card. For the front piece I layered 3 Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Small Circles using two sheets of MME Lost and Found 2 Sunshine Pack and another piece of black cardstock. I also fussy-cut out the text box with the flower from the Sunshine Pack. 

Before layering all the pieces, I used my embossing pen to trace along the edges of the front pieces scallops and embossed with Superfine Gold Embossing Powder. I also embossed the sentiment using Superfine Black Embossing Powder and a stamp I had in my stash. I used my ATG to layer the circles and the text box. (I did a bit of trimming of the text box on the left side so it curved along the largest circle.) I wanted a bow and only had some white ribbon. CopicY28 to the rescue, as I colored the ribbon, let it dry and then tied a tiny bow, which I attached with a micro Glue Dot. I wanted the flower from the text box to stand out a bit more, so I took out my Sakura Glaze Pens and colored over the oranges, yellows, and blacks of the flower. To put it all together, I scored across the top ¼ inch of the back piece and matched up the scallops, and used my zig pen to glue the two pieces together.

Sunshine Hello by Laura C

Who is ready for spring? I sure know I am!! We've had some
ever so slightly springtime temps here....and so I felt like
bringing on the "sunshine" today!

The card and little candy gift box are great for any thing....
a thank you, a thinking of you, a birthday, a hello it's Spring!

This is a standard 4.25"x5.5" card base in pink, with a mat
layer on that of basic black. I used the Echo Park (EP)
Victoria Gardens set....it's just Springtime in a paper pack!!
I also used the EP Style Essentials (the chevron paper),
which is not in store, but Kim would gladly help you with that!!

The sentiment is stamped on plain white cardstock in a
circle cut with Spellbinders Inverted Scallop Circles
(used Wild Honey and Black Soot Distress Ink). I inked
around the circle with Black Soot Ink, and then matted it
on a circle of basic black cardstock (from the Spellbinders
Standard Circles). I added twine, Flora Doodles....these
flowers are just the sweetest touch to any project....and
the card was complete. I made a little matching candy
box to go with my card:

These boxes are super easy to make!!

Dimensions would depend on what you wanted to "spell"--I find
it easiest to measure the nuggets....add about .25" "breathing room"
and go from there. This was a 9.25" by 3" piece of paper,
that I scored at .75" on every side. You then cut a slit along the
score line at each corner, to fold up and in to make tabs for the
box. The top is just exactly made .25" bigger, and I cut out the
center with an exacto. And you gotta love scraps.....some of my
leftover packaging became the clear plastic in the "window". It's
all held together with scor tape....it really holds projects like this!!
I decorated the little Hershey's Nuggets with more of the EP
paper, more Flora Doodles and alphas from my stash.

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of "springtime"....hopefully we'll
all be enjoying the real thing soon!!

Caps for Sale Layout by Chris

I love this children’s book and it has found its way into several of my grandchildren’s albums, but this time I wanted to imitate the illustrator’s work a bit more closely. I used glimmer mist to create/paint the backgrounds for my pages, and was I pleased with how it easy it was to use and the soft shimmer the pages now have. 

To start I used ZooBalloo Cricut cartridge to cut a tree mask for inking and placed it on my pages using a rolled piece of removable tape to be sure it didn’t shift. Then using used copier paper; I tore them to create the horizon line I wanted. With the bottom portion covered I sprayed Trunk Bay Glimmer Mist in nice easy strokes across the page until I had the depth of color I wanted. I then covered the top half of the page with some more copier paper and sprayed the bottom with Lily Pad Glimmer Mist. The page with the peddlar walking away also has a strip of Glimmer Mist Coffee Shop as the path. After that I used Pebbles Chalk to fill in any white portions across the horizon, giving the background a bit more depth.

Once the background was done, I went back to ZooBalloo Cricut cartridge and cut several monkeys using my Expression, varying the sizes from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches and “flipping” a few. I hand sketched the caps and the peddlar and paper pieced them together using scraps from my stash. The photomats are Spellbinders Nestabilities—Petite Scalloped circles and Classic Circles (small). Blue circles were edged with Bundled Sage Distress Ink and the green circles were edged with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

Another month done! Hope you try “painting” with glimmer mist too.