Tutorial Tuesday - Teaser by Mandie

So I don't have all my pics taken for my tutorial... YET! I will get them all taken care of while my daughter is in school this morning. My day got away from my yesterday :) So in the mean time here are a couple of projects that I made with my Glimmer Mist:

I made this tag for a tag swap. I used my Snowflakes Cuttlebug Folder to emboss a tag that I cut on my Cricut from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More from some Bazzill Simply Smooth Cardstock. Then I used two colors of Glimmer Mist to create the background. First I gave a couple spritzes of Blue Skies over the whole tag. Then I used just a squirt of the Sapphire towards the bottom of the tag. Then I layered a torn piece of white card stock stamped with the word "Frosty" and a few snowflakes. It's actually the scraps from my leftovers from cutting out the tags. My little penguin was cut from the Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge. Then I added some rhinestones and fibers and Diamond Stickles on the scarf and have an adorable tag!


For this card I used the masking technique I taught last week. I cut the grass from Plantin SchoolBook with my Cricut and then used the positive AND negative. First I laid the positive on the bottom of my card and used a little scrap to block the rest of the bottom. Then I hand cut some cloud shapes out of more scrap cardstock and laid them where I liked them. Then I sprayed Blue Skies and Sapphire to create the sky. Next I grabbed the negative of my grass and covered up the sky part careful to line it up well. Then I used Meadow Green for the grass part. I cut the horse from the Four Legged Friends Cricut cartridge. Then I added an Action Wobble spring to the back so my little horse would look like he was dancing in the field. I added the "HAY there" sentiment and some bling to finish it off!

Check back here later this afternoon for the next installment of Tutorial Tuesday where I will give you a few more ways to play with Glimmer Mist!

Sandi’s Valentine Card

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner so I’m starting my cards early. I chose the heart and wings from the Cricut Indie Art cartridge. I have pink paper but couldn't find any red so I colored it with my Copic Lipstick Red R29 to get the color I wanted.


I was able to create a beautiful deep red when I covered the hearts with Burgundy Stickles.


I covered the wings with Glossy Accents to give a raised look to the wings.



I wrapped two ribbons around the card and attached them with Scor Tape and used two sizes of Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Circles which I attached with Glue Dots Pop Up Dots. I covered the background scallop circle with Copic R29 and Burgundy stickles to match the hearts. I stamped the Valentine phrase and edge of card with cranberry ink.


Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!

Cutters Creek Shopping List:
Cricut
Copic Lipstick Red R29
Burgundy Stickles
Glossy Accents
Scor Tape
Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Circles
Glue Dots Pop Up Dots

Simple Thank You Card by Vicki

Here is a simple but pretty card made with my Cricut and a few simple embellishments. I used some coordinating papers from my stash to make the card & envelope. When making cards with Wild Card, I always make my envelope first and set my Cricut to the 'Fit to page' option. If you watch the display screen as it calculates the correct size, you will see what size to make your cards to coordinate the remainder of your cuts for the card. In my case, the largest size envelope I could make on a full sheet of paper was 6.10. When I started cutting the card base, I turned off the 'Fit to Page' option and set the dial size to that size. I cut the liner and the words in the small window at that same size. Many people get frustrated with the phrases on this cartridge because they often get confused with the odd sizing. Just keep the dial size set the same as your card base and you'll be ok!


My paper didn't have enough sparkle, so I took out my Frosted Lace Stickles and accented all the little dots on my paper. While that was drying, I cut a few snowflakes from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge. I cut the base of each snowflake from solid red cardstock and the tops from vellum. I used a Twinkle Jewel in the center of each snowflake. I find that these stick best with either a Mini Glue Dot or Glossy Accents.

Now I have a nice Thank You card for a very special holiday gift!

Cutters Creek items used:
Cricut Expression Machine
Frosted Lace Stickles
Twinkle Jewel
Glossy Accents
Mini Glue Dot

Snowy Hello by Laura C

Winter can be a little dreary here in the Midwest, but it's not all bad, when it's the inspiration for a card like this!


First step, was a piece of Bazzill Simply Smooth White Cardstock, and the Sizzix Snow Flurries texture fade and Tim Holtz distressing inks in Stormy Sky and Tumbled Glass. I inked the INDENTED side of the texture fade folder, put in the cardstock and ran this through my Cuttlebug. It created the soft frosty blue background, while the snowflakes stayed white. I trimmed this piece to 3 1/2" by 4". Then I embossed a few scraps of white cardstock with the same texture fade, and used circle punches to cut out some of these snowflakes. I used 1 1/4" for the 3 large, and 3/4" for the 1 small circle and inked the edges with Stormy Sky distress ink. I layered the card up, starting with a 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" white base, then black cardstock-4 1/8" by 3 5/8" for the larger piece, and 4 1/8" by 1 5/8" for the smaller piece. I added the snowflake panel on the right, and the 3 larger snowflake circles on the left. Out of white cardstock, I cut a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen in the 3rd largest size, and inked it with Stormy Sky distress ink. I cut it in half, and stamped the "hi" in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. This was adhered to a larger piece of black cardstock that I trimmed around, I did the same with the little snowflake. Then the sentiment was adhered to the card, and the small snowflake foam dotted next to it. The white ribbon from my stash was added to the 3 1/2" by 3/4" strip of black cardstock. Finally, a girl's gotta have her bling, so Diamond Stickles and an Ice Blue Kaisercraft Rhinestone finished off all the punched out snowflakes.

If you know someone that has a case of the winter blues....send them a little pick me up!

Available in Cutter's Creek:
Bazzill Simply Smooth White Cardstock
Sizzix Texture Fades ("Snowflurries/Snowman" set)
Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Stormy Sky and Tumbled Glass)
Inkssentials Applicator and Foam Applicators
Diamond Stickles
Ice Blue Kaisercraft Rhinestones
Spellbinders Labels Fourteen

Tutorial Tuesday - Glimmer Mist with Mandie

Welcome to our very first "Tutorial Tuesday"! To start off the New Year right we decided to try to focus on what YOU the customers of the Cutters Creek Store have questions about. So, if Cutters Creek sells it and you want to know more about it please feel free to post a comment! One product that we got a few questions about in the Cutters Creek Yahoo Group is Glimmer Mist. It's pretty, it's sparkly and it's available in a TON of colors... but what do you actually DO with it??? Well, hopefully this month we can give you a few ideas!


This is a peek at my craft room. You are looking at my rainbow of 1 oz. Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist bottles. I decided that before I invested in the larger 2 oz. bottles I was going to try a few different colors to see what fit my taste so I purchased a few small "sets". I can honestly say I am LOVING my Glimmer Mist and am only going to be buying the large bottles from now on! But don't they look cute all lined up on my shelf? Anyway, I'm going to talk about "Masking" today. Now, there are some GORGEOUS Tattered Angels Glimmer Screens available in the Cutters Creek Store. They are super easy to use, simply lay them on your project and spray the Glimmer Mist and spray the mist. You could also make your own "screens" with your Cricut and some heavy cardstock, chipboard or even acrylic to make it reusable. But today I'm going to share making your own mask with basic tools.


First, grab a piece of scrap paper. This would be a good use for some of those papers you bought or came in a paper pad that you will NEVER use! I'm going to be making a 5" x 6 1/2" card so I cut my scrap of paper to about 6" x 6". Then I randomly cut lines in my paper stopping about 1" from the bottom of the sheet. Then I folded back every other stripe. Notice the Bazzill Splat Mat covering my desk. Surface protection is VERY important when working with Glimmer Mist, unless you want a Glimmer Desk!


Next I cut a piece of Bazzill Simply Smooth Cardstock to 5" x 6 1/2" to cover my card base. You will want a separate sheet to adhere to the card for a couple of reasons. First, the spray can leach through to the other side of the paper. Secondly, the spray can warp the paper a bit so you don't want a wonky card. It kind of straightens back out when you adhere it to the card base. And finally, if you're anything like me some times you need to do a 2nd take and who wants to waste a nice card base? Lay your mask over your paper. Notice I added a paper towel under my paper on top of my Splat Mat. You don't *have* to do this step but I think the end result is a bit neater.


Next a laid another paper scrap across the bottom of where I wanted my stripes to end. Then I grabbed my Purple Pansy Glimmer Mist and shook it up until all of the "Glimmer" mixed in. You can tell it is all mixed up by checking the bottom. Just shake until there is nothing clinging to it! It just takes a minute but makes a WORLD of difference. *Side Note* - it has also been said that you should "swirl' instead of shaking so you can try that too, just make sure it's mixed well.


Now you are going to start spritzing. The above photo is just a couple of squirts. A couple things to remember: try to keep the bottle as upright as possible, keep it moving as you spritz and shake it up every couple of squirts, just to be sure to get as much glimmer as possible. The beauty of this is you can add as many or as few squirts as you want! When I felt that I had the right coverage (about 10-12 squirts for this project) I dabbed it with a dry paper towel to take of the excess and removed the mask....


And here is the background for my card! I used my Heat Gun to quickly dry my paper, just make sure to keep it moving so you don't scorch your cardstock. One tip I can give is to mostly dry the front, it will probably curl a bit... now flip it over and dry it a bit on the back as well. It helps straighten it out a bit. Depending on how picky you are you can also set it under a stack of books overnight to flatten a bit more. I've also heard you can lightly spritz the back with a Mini Mister full of water and that this will balance it out. I haven't TRIED this yet but I WILL for next week's tutoral! I will post posts of different swatches for you all to see.


So I decided to use my Cricut Expression Machine and the Create A Critter cartridge to cut an adorable cat for my card at 4 1/2". I cut the base from Black cardstock, the main body from Silver American Crafts Glitter Paper and the nose and bow from Pink cardstock. Now, I decided that with the glimmery background and the glittery cat body the plain Pink looked... Plain! So I grabbed some Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist and spritzed the pieces. If you click the photo to make it a bit larger you can REALLY see the difference just a spritz makes! And because I didn't really use a lot of spray There was no warping of my pieces.


For the ruffle along the pillow I used my Xyron 150, AKA the X, to add the adhesive to the back. This is one tool that I can't scrapbook without. It's so quick and easy to just add a little adhesive to small pieces!


Finally here is a look at my card all assembled! I like that I could use this card for just about anything. And there is sooooo much sparkle and shimmer with the Glimmer Mist!!!

So now you should head over to the Cutters Creek Store and browse the 72 different colors available in the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Sprays! Just a hint for the future here... you *may* want to have a bottle or two on hand for an upcoming contest..... So, what did you think of today's tutorial? I will be back next Tuesday with another Glimmer Mist tutorial! Also, keep checking the blog because we are going to be posting many more great projects and ideas during the rest of the week too!

Happy New Year Crown by Mandie

I actually created this crown for the Cricut Circle Challenge this week but I thought you guys might appreciate seeing it too!


The crown is cut from the Once Upon a Princess Cricut cartridge. I used an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and used "Fit To Page" on the Cricut Expression machine to get the largest size possible. If I remember right it cut at 3 3/4". Then I turned off the Fit To Page function and set my dial to the correct size and cut the back of the crown. I was able to just turn the mat around to cut the back, I didn't need to add another sheet of paper.


Now one of the elements of the challenge was to add some bling. When I hear "BLING" I immediately think of American Crafts Glitter Cardstock and Stickles! For liner of the crown I grabbed my Silver Stickles and painted them onto the sheet of gray cardstock that also cut from the Once Upon A Princess Cricut Cartridge.


Then I cut the numbers 2011 from the Birthday Bash Cricut cartridge from Silver American Crafts Glitter Paper. The BEST part about this paper is how thick it is. I didn't need to cut the numbers out of chipboard or something first. I just used Multi-Cut 3, Pressure Max and Blade Depth 6 on my Cricut Expression Machine and it cut beautifully. Then I used my i-rock tool to add the rhinestones.


Next I twisted some silver pipe cleaners around my pencil to curl them and then hot glued them to my numbers and the crown. To finish it off I added pipe cleaner trim to the bottom of my crown! Then I grabbed my two adorable daughters to model it for me! The baby liked holding it but wasn't keen about actually wearing it. The 4 year old Fancy Nancy wannabe LOVED it and has since laid claim to it. Glad I was able to get a few pics of it before it disappeared!


Cutters Creek Shopping List:
Cricut Expression Machine
Silver American Crafts Glitter Paper
Silver Stickles

And tomorrow will be our very first "Tutorial Tuesday" featuring Glimmer Mist! Hope to see you there!

New Year's Hostess Gift by Laura C

Start the New Year off right, ring it in with a fun set of wine/drink charms, that can be a great hostess gift, or you may want to keep them for yourself!



Start with shrink plastic (I used white), a small stamp of your choice (I had the word "cheers"), Staz-On Black Ink (must be a good permanent ink), Ranger alcohol inks or Copic Markers, an Tim Holtz Ink Applicator and felt and a Crop a Dile hole punch. I used a 1&1/2" circle punch to make my "stencil". Then I traced and cut out 8 circles from the shrink plastic. Then I stamped my image on the disc—some people will sand the shrink plastic to make this easier.....I did not....but it might slip a bit so don't push down too hard. Then use the Crop a Dile to punch a hole......I stacked them all up and did it with one punch (the larger hole)—love the Crop a Dile!! Then using the Tim Holtz Ink Applicator and felt....I brushed the edges of each disc with a different color of alcohol ink. You can get a similar effect with Copic Markers as well. Here is a look at the disks before shrinking:


Now, on your Bazzill Splat Mat or other heat safe surface, use a toothpick in the hole to keep the disc from blowing away, and use your embossing Heat Gun to shrink it. It will curl all up, but will return to a flat disc when it's done. Now you can do these up anyway you choose. You can use a thin ribbon or twine, I had a good wire in my craft stash, so I strung on some small beads that complimented the disc color, and I used a needle nose pliers to form each end into hooks. I used a jewelry ring to attach the shrink plastic charm so it will lay flat.


To make the "matchbook" to hold them, use a 8&1/2" by 5" piece of cardstock. Score it at 3&1/2", 4", and 7&1/2" on the Scor Pal, and fold to create match book. I used a small piece of Velcro to secure it closed. You can decorate for any holiday, I chose New Year's, used a celebrate stamp that I embossed using Tim Holtz embossing ink, and Super Fine Embossing Powder on a 1&3/4" by 2&1/4" piece of black cardstock, I then used Flower Soft glue around the edge, and applied Beadazzles in the Waltz color. I used American Crafts glitter cardstock (a 1&1/4" x 5" strip) and layered a 2&3/4" by 2&1/2" square and foam dotted the dry "celebrate" square on top. A 1/2" x 5" strip on the small flap finishes it off. On the inside, I used plain white cardstock and a ribbon slot punch to make the card to hold the charms. I fastened this piece on the bottom edge only, to hold it in place, but allow easy access to the charms.

This is a gift any hostess would love to receive!

Available at Cutter's Creek:

Suze Weinberg Beadazzles (waltz)
Tim Holtz Ink Applicator
Super Fine Embossing Powder (silver)
American Crafts Glitter Cardstock (silver)
Staz-On Black Ink
Bazzill Simply Smooth white cardstock
Bazzill Splat Mat
Copic Markers
Crop a Dile
Scor Pal
Flower Soft glue