Ecstasy Crafts Free Style Wreaths with Kim B

This was one easy and fast card! I used the Ecstasy Craft Free Style Wreaths and American Crafts Foil card stock on my card blank. You should be able to see the dimension of the wreath on this card. All the pieces were popped out of the sheet and layered with foam squares (also from Ecstasy Crafts). Then I cut a piece of American Crafts foil card stock and put that on my card blank. I popped out one of the borders on the Free Style Wreath sheet and gave it a little trim to fit along the edge of my card. I then attached the wreath. Then upon scoping out what else was available on the sheet, I punched out the pine cones with leaves and attached that. And for my final item. I picked a little festive background and sentiment and attached the sentiment with foam squares and then put that on top of my pine cones. Trust me, it took me longer to type up what I did, than make the actual card. Is is so sparkly and shimmery and I hope someone will love getting this holiday card!

Items required: Foam Squares, American Crafts foil card stock, Ecstasy Crafts Free Style Wreaths, and your personal touch!

Glass Etching with Chris

I finally tried etching glass and am wondering whatever took me so long. I wanted to make a dish for my sister and fill it with snacks that go with the Thanksgiving Blessing. I found a free png file online with several Thanksgiving sayings and using Scal I imported the file “Give Thanks”, adjusted the size to about 3 inches and simplified the number of nodes so it would cut better. I made sure that I moved my blade about a half-inch in from the edge so I would have a border around the saying when I lifted it from the mat. I then set my cricut at a blade depth of 3, speed and pressure at 3 and cut. It cut perfectly. I did not have transfer tape, but was able to easily lift the outline of the words. I did have to use tweezers to move the inside piece of the “g” and the “a” onto the glass, but it worked out alright. (For more complicated cuttings I would recommend using transfer tape.)

I laid the vinyl on the dish and used my fingernail and an ice cream stick to rub around each letter, making sure the vinyl was pressed firmly down so no cream could get underneath. Using an old paintbrush, I put a thick coat of Armour Etch cream over the letters. While the bottle says to remove it after 5 minutes, everything I’ve read and watched online said to leave it on longer. I left it on 35 minutes. I scooped the excess cream back into the bottle using the paintbrush (learned that online too) and rinsed both the brush and the bowl under warm running water. I let it air dry and worked on the Blessing Card.

To make the Blessing Frame I used an old frame painted it with distress crackle ink; cut apart some old silk flowers and using my glossy accents glued them around the edges. The saying was printed on my computer and the title I embossed with gold embossing powder. Added a few gems and just need to fill with the snacks—and another hostess gift done!

Cutters Creek Resources:

SCAL

Glass Etching Cream: Armour Etch

Vinyl Roll (color doesn’t matter for this project)

Antique Linen Distress Ink

Inkssentials Glossy Accents

Super Fine Embossing Powder--Gold

Place Tags by Chris

This project is a piece of cake. All you need is the Cuttlebug Embossed Tags, chipboard letters, and some distress inks. The embossed tags die not only cuts and embosses, but also has a plastic sleeve that you lift and can ink the embossed area and not get any on the rest of your tag. Just wipe it off with a baby wipe after you remove the tags. The set has 5 tags. (There are also embossed labels and Vintage collage sets that I love.)

Using fired brick, scattered straw, rusty hinge, walnut and spiced marmalade distress inks, I randomly colored my chipboard letters and the tags, glued my letters down with glossy accents, wrap some twine around the napkins, tucked in some bits of silk flower parts and have a hostess gift for Thanksgiving! Easy-peasy as Kim says!

Cutters Creek Resources:

Cuttlebug Embossed Tags (Labels & Vintage Collage)

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: fired brick, scattered straw, rusty hinge, walnut and spiced marmalade

The Tim Holtz applicator

Inkssentials Ink Blending Foam

Glossy Accents

A Card for All Seasons - by Lori B.

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a Copic newbie.  I've only used them a couple of times & still have trouble with shading.  However, I LOVE how forgiving they are.  I totally thought I had ruined one of my cards by getting color WAY outside a line, but that colorless blender saved the day and allowed me to push it all right back in (it took about three times of pushing it back then letting it dry).

So, since I'm new to Copics, I only have a few colors so I wanted to see if I could use the same markers for more than one thing.  Flower Soft to the rescue!  I used the same Flower Soft stamp and Copic markers for all three cards (oh, 2 different greens), and just changed the Flower Soft colors I used with it.

I used the Wishing Well stamp from Flower Soft for these cards.  My first card, a Spring/Summer option, uses the sentiment that comes with it.  Because of a stamping mishap, I decided to cut out the stamped image for this one, and I decided I like that the best!

I stamped my image using a Memento Black stamp pad.  I colored all of the flowers on the stamped image with a YG07 Acid Green marker prior to gluing down my Flower Soft.  That way, any places that show through look like foliage instead of seeing white.  I used Fuschia Flower Soft for this card, which I think would be great for a Spring or Summer Wedding.

For my Fall card, I grabbed a sentiment stamp from my stash, but I stick with the "wish" theme.  I can add a Happy Birthday to the inside and be all set.

For this card, I switched to a G99 Olive marker to color my foliage, and Autumn Flower Soft.  After it was partially dry, I rubbed some of it off, and added in some Nut Brown to darken up the colors a bit.

Finally, I HAD to make a Christmas card.  Another stamp from my stash, and it says Wishing You Happy Holidays.  I again used my G99 Olive marker for my foliage.  I used Vintage Christmas Flower Soft, then added on some Polar White Diamond Range Flower Soft for a little Christmas snow.

This technique would look great with any of the  Flower Soft outdoor "accessory" stamps, or similar stamps you may have in your stash.  I love that these neutral Copic markers are made so much more versatile by using them like this!

Supplies Available at Cutters Creek:

• Wishing Well stamp
• Fuschia Flower Soft
• Autumn Flower Soft
• Nut Brown Flower Soft
• Vintage Christmas Flower Soft
• Polar White Flower Soft
• Flower Soft Glue
• Copic Markers: E11 Barely Beige, E59 Walnut, C2 Cool Gray #2, C6 Cool Gray #6, YG07 Acid Green, G99 Olive, and 0 Colorless Blender.

Holiday Card & Thickers with Kim B

This card was so simple and fast to put together! I cut out the image from Graphic 45’s popular Christmas Past collection and added some Glimmer Mist and some ink around the edges. I found this pretty shimmery corrugated card stock in my stash and also found this shimmery gold ribbon in my stash. I added the Dear Lizzy Christmas thickers in Sparkling Pine, and voila! A new holiday card was made! And to finish it off, I used my Chomper from WRMK.

Items needed:

Cardstock, ribbon, American Crafts Sparkling Pine Thickers, WRMK Chomper, Graphic 45 Christmas Past, Glimmer Mist, and your imagination.

Tissue Box Cover by Laura C

You can turn a plain ordinary tissue box, into a work of art! When I saw the directions on how to make this tissue box cover, I knew I had to make one! And even better.....you get a sneak peek at a project made with the new Tim Holtz, soon to be released snowflurries/snowmantexture fade set!!

You need to cut out a "base" set first, and then you will decorate your plain box. You need the following sizes to make your base box:

Two 9&1/2" x 5&1/8" pieces and these need to be scored at 1/2" and 5". I used a soft blue cardstock that I inked with chipped sapphire distress ink after scoring.

One piece that is 6 & 9/16" square. Score this at 1" on all 4 sides. Trace and cut out an oval in the center and make one cut out of each corner to make a "tab" on each corner (see black lines in photo).

The decorated panel pieces on the box are:

Four 4&1/2" x 4&1/4" pieces for the sides These are embossed with the new snowflake folder, and inked with chipped sapphire ink. Four 4&1/4" x 3/4" pieces for the lid sides. These are embossed with the cuttle bug as well. One 4&1/4" square piece for the top. This is embossed with the snowflake folder, inked and then a center opening cut out using labels 6. I also cut additional pieces for one side using spellbinders rectangles (out of a piece embossed with the swiss dot folder) and small labels (I then stamped snowflakes in chipped sapphire and added some crystal stickles and twinkle jewels for centers). I punched thin strips of scrap paper for the "lace" edges around the lid.

Once you have all the pieces ready, it's time to assemble. I formed the sides and the lid, using scor tape applied to the "tabs" on the lid corners and the 1/2" tab on the sides. Then, before attaching the lid to the base, I put on the embossed side panels on the box sides and the embossed lid sides and top on the lid of the box. Now is when you would adhere the "lace" edges if you did those as well. A tip here: Remember to "center" your side panels toward the bottom (they are placed about 1/8" from the bottom and corners.....they will be much further from the top, but this portion is partially covered by the lid!). To finish assembly, USE THE TISSUE BOX YOU ARE COVERING! Slide the cover over the box, then apply scor tape around outside top edges, and carefully position the lid over the top of the tissue box......once in place rub to make sure it's firmly in place with the adhesive. Now you can embellish.....add the extra side panel, some buttons and bling, ribbon, whatever you'd like.

If anyone has trouble with the instructions, let me know, but I have no doubt, once you get the pieces in front of you, you'll understand every instruction, it will
make sense, and go together easy breezy!! This is a wonderful item for home decor or an amazing gift for the holidays! Enjoy crafting these great little boxes!

Available at Cutters Creek:
Tim Holtz Texture Fades (snow flurries/snowman set--pre-order)
Tim Holtz distress ink (chipped sapphire)
Inkssentials Blending tool and foam
Cuttlebug A2 folder (swiss dots)
Spellbinders Dies (Rectangles, Small Labels, Labels 6)
Stickles (crystal)
Twinkle Jewels (beaches)

Featured Artist-Margaret

Boy with stocking:
This card is a digital image from Mo's, just love her work. I used my Copic markers to color the image and a sheet of double sided paper by American Crafts to make my card. The paper was also a two sided paper by K&Company. I find that these make nice simple cards. One side was solid and the other stripped. I did not have single stamps to make the Happy Holidays so I only inked one side at a time. The Copic markers used were E11, E13, E25, B21, B24, B32, B34, B99, V15, R29, YR09, G28.

Angel with horn:
This card was made also by using the Copic markers and one of Mo's digital stamps. On this card I popped out a snowflake and added Stickles to her wings. I also added Stickles to the background paper and the snowflake. The Copic markers used were E11, E13, E25, Y17, Y38, RV11, RV34. The Stickles used was Crystal.

Margaret
Blog: http://margaret-ilovecrafting.blogspot.com