Archive for May, 2009

I participate in the Cricut Message Board.  There have been numerous times that those ladies have lite my creative jucies and in this instance it is another case of seeing something and needing to do it.  Donna Mundinger, from the Cricut MB, did a DC Ladybug Valentine back in February.  It was so perfect for my 9 month old GD; however, I didn’t have all the carts that she used to get it made.  So I improvised a little.  Unfortunately, I think mine came out looking more like a fat fly then a ladybug.  This is Rylan’s first V-Day and her room is black/white with a splash of hot pink. 

WIMG – ladybug
Stickles – Black and pink
Charm – Blue Moon
Antenne – heart George cart then glossy accent then pink glitter, wrapped wire around skewer.
Doodles done in white pen
CB – Fancy Swirls

I hope when she gets old enough to have a love for cards, paper and ribbon that she realizes what these tokens of love mean.  She certainly makes my heart sing every time I see her and those crystal blue eyes melt your heart. 

Happy Everything, Sweetie….NaNa loves you!

This is the latest tutorial by Capadia Designs and again Diane does an excellent job.  Be sure and read the instructions on her blog before you jump right into the tutorial.  Diane has upgraded her software and the video is now embedded in her blog.  So that means you access it a little differently than what you have had to do in the past.

I had some knowledge of how to do some of the things she shows in this tutorial but she makes it look so easy.  The tip about using the Alt key to remove the handles when you are moving things around is great!  My Tip: Be sure and have your cursor on the handle you want to use to move your object around,  as you start to move your object (that handle turns yellow) and then hit the Alt key.

You can access her link from the right hand side of my website under blog roll or you can go out on Youtube and search for her tutorial or here is her link (http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/2009/05/by-george-i-think-ive-got-it.html).  

The flower you are seeing at the beginning of this post is my Double Knock-Out Rose.  I just planted it this year, we’ll see if it drowns in all the rain we are having here in Texas.

Thanks, for stopping by and be sure and vist the other links on my blog roll. 

I was going through some of my photos and found the first card that I tried my hand at a couple of years ago.  I think of what I knew then and what I know now and there is a huge difference.  There has also been a lot of money spent trying out everything I saw and thought I had to have.  Oh well, it certainly has blessed my Mother.  She is the one that I usually give the items that I’ve discovered I’ve got multiples of  or since I got my Cricut E,  I don’t need anymore.

I didn’t know anything about inking the card to give it depth or how to shade using chalk or color pencils, doing a mat or much about balance.

If memory serves me correctly I actually scraplifted this out of a magazine I bought.  It just goes to show you that we all start somewhere and the more you do the better you get at it and for me the more detailed I have become.

This was a card I made to send to someone on our church’s prayer list.

Even the insides of my cards look different now-a-days.  It is good for the soul to go and take a little trip down memory lane.

Thanks for looking and if you want a closer look just click on the picture and it will get larger.  Thanks for visiting my website and be sure and leave me a comment, I love to hear from you.

Recently, I had a friend whose Father passed away.  Sympathy cards are always hard to do because we want to convey and say the right things to give comfort.  Truth is the only one that can provide what that person needs is our Heavenly Father.

So as I pulled together the colors for the card I navigated to black, tan and gold.  This color combination seems to provide a since of calmness and an understated elegance.

I used La Creme Stack from DCWV ( I’m in love with this stack ).  The base card is a 5″ sq out of tan card stock.  I took one of the black and tan coordinated papers from the DCWV stack and cut it 4.75″ and used my score pal to score around the mat.  You will have to look close to see it but it is there (hint: click on the picture to make it larger). I attached the ribbon around the mat and then glued them to the card.  The ribbon is a $1 find at Michaels.

I cut out three medallions (using my Circut E and the mini-monograms cart.). There are two medallions on the outside of the card  and one on the inside of the card.   The black medallion is in another black and tan coordinated paper from the LaCreme stack. I also used the same black and tan coordinated paper that I used on that medallion for the mat on the inside of the card.  The other two medallions are out of white card stock.  I took the white medallions and used a bronze Prisma color pencil and colored and shaded both of them using the MCPT technique.   I doodled on the medallions using a gold Prang brush pen (you can find this at your local craft store).  The stamps on both the outside and inside are $1 stamps from Michaels.   Punch a hole in all three medallions and secure the black medallion and one of the white (now bronze) medallions to the front of the card with ribbon.  I also used some glue dots to secure the medallions to the front of the card so they would not be sliding around.

If you look closely there is a gold border running the length of the ribbon.  That is an embellishment called Dazzles and I won a set of these from Paper Wishes (that made me one happy camper!).

Adhere the mat (cut at 4.75″) to the inside of the card.  The third medallion I stamped and ran the same ribbon I used on the front through the hole tied in a simple knot.

I used some foam pop dots to lift the inside medallion off the surface to give a little dimension to the inside.

One thing that is nice about this stack of paper is it does not require much inking if any on the papers.  This is a pretty simplistic design but I feel it conveys our regrets and concerns for the people who are going through such a difficult time.

Don’t forget you can click on the pictures to get a larger view.  Thank you for visiting my website and if you get a chance leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you or be sure and subscribe so you don’t mess any of the postings.

The flower you are seeing at the beginning of this post is a Blackeyed Susan that is growing up a trelis in front of my kitchen window.

My #1 daughter (whose name is Brandy) loves tulips.  So I was inspired by a designer by the name of Jeannie Phillips on the Cricut MB.  She had posted a card using the Cricut cartridges Walk In My Garden (WIMG) and Zoobaloo (Zoo).  Please visit her original post (http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=4274361&mpage=1&key=Tulips&#4274361).  By the way she gives away a card each week.  All the information is on her blogspot and her blogspot information is at the end of her post.

She got my creativity flowing and so off  I went to make my version of a tulip card.  The tulips, ladybug and bee are from the Walk in My Garden cartridge and the grass is from the Zoobaloo cartridge.

 

 
The bee has additional vellum wings with diamond dust applied and the yellow stripes on his body are glittered with “Lemone” (Artglitter).  This is a very nice quality and transparent glitter.  The spots on the lady bug are black Stickles.

Since the number of tulips I had for the front was more than I needed, I trimmed off a tulip and used it to embellish the inside of the card.  The ribbon is from Michael’s.

The bottom blue wings on the butterfly are flocked and the vellum wings has diamond dust applied.  The papers are Amy Butler from K&C Company.

Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the vibrancy of the colors. Thanks again Jeannie…my daughter loved her card.

Remember, you can click on the photos to get a larger picture.  Thank you for looking and be sure and leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

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I recently bought a card-making tool from Paperwishes.  You know it was one of those webisodes that showed how easy it was to make envelopes with this tool.  Of course, you just have to have it because it is the best thing you have ever seen and it will make your life so much easier.

“The Enveloper” makes 9 different size envelopes, what they called an “Envelopbox” and included a scoring tool.  The Envelopbox is a 3-dimensional envelope that will hold a card that has been embellished and might need a scooch more room.

What you are seeing is The Enveloper and an envelope I made with it.  I make my envelopes with paper that usually has a white back.  When I make the envelope I fold it so the print is on the inside of the envelope.  This gives me a white envelope to write the address on and a pretty pattern on the  inside when it is opened. 

Tip:  Watch the clearance paper at your local craft stores, I often get paper (12 x 12)  for envelopes at $.10 – $.25 per sheet.  This way I have a pretty envelope but I’m not using my stash.

As I read the instructions I became amused at the names they gave the various sizes of envelopes that could be made with this new tool.  There was the  1/2 US letter, 1/3 US letter tri-fold and 1/2 depth tri-fold.  I have to say I didn’t know what these types of letters were, nor what size that meant.  Sometimes I’m too visual to get my brain to understand.

I really didn’t want to have to pull out the instructions to figure out what size of paper I needed or what lines I was suppose to score to make the various envelopes, but I had thought I would glue the instructions to the underside of The Enveloper.  Wasn’t crazy about the ideal but thought I could live with it.

However, Tanya T on the Paperwishes MB said that she made each individual envelopes and put them on a ring so she could see what size they made (http://forum.paperwishes.com/search.php?searchid=4630).  Awesome idea and so I too started the process.

So, I pulled out some very colorful papers and followed the instructions on making all the various sizes of the envelopes.  Then I wrote on each envelop the name, the measured size, the paper size that was needed to make the envelope, and the lines I needed to follow (F&G or B&E).

Tip:  I placed a ruler along the scored lines to ensure that I got a straight fold and then used the score tool (or a bone folder will work also) to get a good sharp crease.

Once all the envelopes were finished I punched a hole in the upper right hand corner, stacked them in size order (biggest to smallest) and put a ring through the holes.  Now it has a happy home on my bulletin board and when I need an envelope I can easily choose the size and see the information I need to make that particular size.

Tip:  If you look closely you can see where I also used Velcro to attach my scoring tool to The Enveloper, that way I know exactly where it is at all times.

Thanks Tanya T, from the Paperwishes MB,  for such a good organizational tip and an easy way to see exactly what you need.  Who would have known that a 1/2 depth tri-fold envelope measured 4-9/16″ x 4″.  Put the ruler down…. now all you have to do is flip to that envelope and see if that is the size you need.

Thanks for stopping by and remember you can click on the picture to get a larger view.  Be sure and leave me a comment.  I love hearing from you.

Wow! Just in case you missed it, Diane at Capadia Designs, has done another great video for all of us that are trying to learn how to use the Cricut Design Studio.

So go visit her website ( http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/2009/04/shadowing-welded-word-design-studio.html) and watch her video on another layer of how to shadow welded words.  You can also access her through the link on the right hand side of this page, under ”Blog Roll”.   If you missed her first 3 videos they are there, and you can catch up.

Thanks again Diane,  for great tutorials!   If you visit her blogspot, be sure and be sweet and leave her a comment.

What are skittles? 

If you asked my daughters they are candy!  However, in the crafting world they are an embellishment that is rounded on top and flat on bottom.  Skittles are small acrylic discs.  They are actually labeled as “Decorative Accents” and are intended for use in floral arrangements, and home decor projects. They are usually found in the floral department of your local craft store.  You can also find them on-line often referred to as “Dew Drops”.  My understanding is Dew Drops are usually smaller than the Decorative Accents.

I sat down some time back and made “Homemade” skittles for the first time and at the same time taught my 80 year old Mother how to do it.  She actually got the technique down before I did.

The following is a tutorial on how to make your own using hot glue (or low temperature hot glue).  Items you need:

1. A non-stick surface (aluminum foil, wax paper, butcher paper, or even a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam and then wiped off, etc.).  I used my silpat and it worked perfectly.

2. A hot glue gun (go ahead dig them out of your closets or drawers where they have been hiding for years).

3. Glue sticks (any kind, including colored or glitter).

4. A type of coloring agent (Alcohol Inks, Perfect Pearls, nail polish, etc.).  You can even put glitter on them while they are still hot and it will stick.

5.  Plastic bags one for each color. 

In this tutorial I used alcohol inks, but you can use “Perfect Pearls”, or nail polish, or even marks-a-lots.  The items you can use to color these skittles are endless and only limited by your imagination.  You can color them all over or just put the color on the flat bottom for it to show through.

Tip:  If you freeze your glue sticks first you will have less strings to wrap.

1.  I used the low temperature mode on my glue gun.

 2.  The technique has as much to do with trigger pressure, when you release the trigger, and how to wind the glue string around the base of the skittle to prevent “nipples” as it does with how big you make them.  Think smaller than you think it should be, slow wrapping and even pressure.

 3.  I found it easier to make the skittles if I stood up over the mat.

 4.  Hold the nozzle about a 1/4″ away from the mat and squeeze the trigger with steady pressure holding it in one spot.

5.  When the skittle gets to a little less than the size you are looking for start winding the glue around the base of the skittle as you release the trigger on the glue gun. 

6.  This will cause the strings of glue to melt into the skittle.

Note: The hot glue expands a little bit as you are wrapping the strings around the base. That is why you want to stop just a little before the skittle gets to the size you are trying to make.

The more you make the better you get.  It’s like piano or driving a car with a stick shift…..keep practicing.

The next thing I did was take a nail buffer and sanded some of the skittles after they dried.  When you color them with alcohol ink the sanded skittles will take on a frosted look.  So you can have translucent skittles and frosted skittles.

As you can see the skittles on the left are more translucent; the ones one the right are frosted.

I used plastic bags (one for each color) and made sure all the skittles were down in a corner of the bag.  I dropped 3-4 drops (or more if you want a saturated color) of alcohol ink on top of them and then twist the bag.  I then just rub the alcohol ink over the skittles until they looked like they were the color I wanted them.

Spread them out on paper (I used wax-paper) and let them dry.  You can make various sizes and colors.  I store them in baby food containers (the rectangular ones).  These containers fit perfectly in the Jetmax Cube drawers that have the slots.

Finally, I decided to free hand a dragon fly, this is called “Spun Glass”.  The picture below is my second dragon fly. 

Tips: 

1. Build a base of what you are creating, then go back and add more to it.  It gives you great dimension and an opportunity to correct an uneven base.
2. Before you color it you can take scissors and clean up any burrs or mis-shapened items you want to take off.
3. If you want light coloring; color the top only.  For more depth color both underneath and top.
4. You can put a picture of what you want to create under the mat and use it as a pattern.    Just make sure the lines of the image are dark enough to see through the mat.

Thanks for looking at the tutorial and remember you can just click on the picture to see a larger version.  Be sure and leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!