Happy Birthday (no Cricut)

I have had a few request to make some cards without using the Cricut machine, since not everyone has one..(oh how can that be?) I actually started with a 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock for inspiration.

I had two (2) sheets of this paper. It's from DCWV The Sweet Stack. I thought I would keep one sheet for use in a layout (sometime) and I had used the top green portion of the other sheet for some cards. Therefore, I was left with the strip with the scallop and blue stripe on it (the smaller piece in the picture). It measures 3" x 5 1/2"

The first thing I do is make my base (as I usually do) with cutting a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock in half  (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") and then folding one sheet in half. It leaves you with a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. Next, I found some coordinating patterned paper that complimented the scalloped strip of paper. I cut that to the exact dimensions of the front of the card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") and glued it on. I then cut a strip of white cardstock 5 1/2" and approximately 1 1/2". Then using my EK Success Border Punch Dotted Scallop, I punched the one long side. It might be easier to start with a longer strip of white cardstock and then cut to size, in this way you can try to balance the scallops. I then aligned the scallop where I wanted it to show under the green section and glued it down. Next, I tied a 1/4" piece of ribbon around the middle of the blue line and tied a bow. Glue this to the patterned paper, leaving about the same amount of paper showing on the top and the bottom. I then glued four (4) rhinestones to the patterned scallops and let dry. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment, with a shadow effect, I printed out on my computer. I cut it 4 1/2" x 1" and then using 3D-Dots applied it to the card. This is again one of those cards that you could change up the sentiment and it would still work well.

I finished the inside of the card with a piece of the coordinating paper that I punched with the Dotted Scallop Border Punch and glued to the edge. Your challenge is now to look at your patterned paper/cardstock and see if you can find a part of it that would work with this type of card.

I'm not sure if you feel like this also, but sometimes I have so many ideas in my head and don't ever feel like I have enough time to try and create it all. Right now, I'm thinking about Halloween, Christmas, projects and trying carts that I haven't had a chance to use yet (just to name a few). I would love to hear some of your ideas or what you are working on. Get inspired and imagine what you could do.....

Thinking of You

I have some friends that I haven't seen in a while and have been thinking about lately, so I thought I would make this cute little card. (No Cricut machine needed...lol) You can actually change the sentiment to a number of different ones: thinking of you, happy birthday, congratulations, just because, hello, feel better soon, etc and the list goes on.

I started with a scrap piece of white cardstock about 4 1/2" x 4". Then, using an Ultra Wedge (makeup foam wedge), I stamped the cardstock with different colors of pigment ink in a random pattern. The blue ink is around the edges (although it doesn't show very well in this photo).

While still wet, spritz the cardstock with water using the Mini Mister and then pat it dry with a paper towel. Next, I used the Cuttlebug Flower Circle Embossing Folder. Set aside and let dry. After dry, put a thin coat of glue in the center of the flower and add glitter. I used a multi-color irridescent glitter. Let dry.

I cut the background orange cardstock at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" and glued down to the base card. The yellow cardstock was cut at 4 3/4" x 4" and then I embossed it with Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls Embossing Folder. Adhere the yellow cardstock to the orange cardstock, keeping it close to the top edge of the orange cardstock.  Next, cut the "flower" cardstock (that you had set aside) to 4 1/4" x 3 1/2". I then used the EK Success Paper Shapers Corner Adorner Rounder Punch - Large and rounded all four corners. I took another piece of yellow cardstock and cut it at 2 3/4" x 1 1/4" and then embossed it again using D'Vine Swirls. I cut the white cardstock at 2 3/4" x 1", stamped my sentiment "thinking of you" with orange pigment ink, then adhered it to the small yellow cardstock. Using the corner rounder once again, I rounded two (2) opposite corners. Finally, I used 3D-Dots (glue dots) and placed the sentiment at the bottom in the center.

I hope that my friends enjoy the card as much as I enjoyed making it. Now imagine what you could do...and let me know how it turns out. 

Layout Niki

I haven't put together a layout in a while, but since we just adopted our little girl, Niki, I thought that I would create one for her. We adopted her from a local shelter. She is a sweetheart, but a bundle of energy at 9 months old and every bit of a puppy. She tries to chew anything not nailed down...lamp plugs, sneakers, baskets...lol. We're just taking it one day at a time.

The photos and paper dog are double mounted with cream and brown cardstock. The heading "NIKI" and "Aug 2010" are cut from Cricut Cartridge George and Basic Shapes, cut at 2 1/4" and 1" respectively. I used the negative image and cut it straight about 1/2" under "NIKI". This way the background paper shows through. The dog  is cut from Cricut Cartridge Paper Pups at 3 1/2". I cut it once in white with the blackout key and once with the base cut in brown cardstock. Instead of just using the outline, I cut off the bottom of the feet, tip of the tail, a "v"at the neck and around the nose in order for the white to show through where Niki has white fur. I colored her eyes. After the dog is layered, I used Cuttlebug Herringbone Embossing Folder. I cut "woof" also from Paper Pups at 1 1/2". I did the same with "woof" as with "NIKI" by using the negative image and cutting the paper straight across. After everything was mounted, I stuck on some doggie prints from some stickers I had.

Now imagine what you could do....

Finished order

Just wanted to share the finished order of notecards that I made...with a new packaging. 

I used Cricut Cartridge Tags, Bags, Boxes & More and Cricut Design Studio to make the new packaging. I modified the shopping bag on page 114 in the manual.

I really am happy with the way they turned out. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I would love to hear for you. Now if I can do this, just imagine what you could do...

It's a Boy

As you can see, I didn't get this posted last night or before work this morning. I tried, but it just wasn't happening...

My neighbor's daughter had a baby recently and I thought I would make a card to celebrate the blessed event.

My base card is half of a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white cardstock. The animal patterned background cardstock is cut at 4" x 5 1/4". I then rounded the corners with  my EK Success Paper Shapers Corner Adorner  Rounder Punch - Large (now that was a mouthful!) I cut the blue cardstock at 2" x 3 3/4" and the orange gold cardstock at 2 1/2"  x 4". I also rounded the corners on these papers. I cut the giraffe at 3 3/4" from Cricut Cartridge Create A Critter. The base cut is in turquoise, layer 1 is in light blue and layer 2 is in the orange gold cardstock. I embossed the orange gold layer with Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic Embossing  folder. After assembling the layers together, I used Crayola Glitter Glue - clear to fill in the dots on the giraffe. Let dry thoroughly. I dotted the eyes with a black marker. "It's a Boy" is cut at 1" from Cricut Cartridge New Arrival in the same turquoise cardstock used for the base of the giraffe.

I glued the patterned paper down first. Next I tied a light blue ribbon in a knot around the orange gold cardstock and cut the ends on a angle. I then glued "It's a Boy" on the cardstock and adhered that to the patterned paper. Glue the giraffe on the blue cardstock. Overlapping the orange gold cardstock, glue the blue cardstock down. Finally, I doodled a line and dots on two edges of the blue cardstock and one bottom edge of the orange gold cardstock with a Gelly Roll white pen.

Here is the finished card again. Inside, I stamped "Congratulations" with Fiskars All Year Greetings clear stamps in Sky Blue ink.

Hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. Niki, the new puppy, didn't want to sleep last night...she discovered the rabbits under the shed yesterday and all she wants to do is go outside. I'm not sure how I will be discouraging this behavior.

Hope you are inspired to do some crafting and as always...imagine what you would do.................

Quick note

Just a quick note for now... I've been working on an order that I received for some notecards. Also, my son is getting ready to leave for college next week, so lots of shopping. We still have to get everything packed! Hopefully, I'll have a new project for you later today. Be inspired by what you see and then imagine what you could do.....

A Different Look

Just a quick post right now. Just by turning the card and using different papers, you can change the look. The directions are exactly the same as in my earlier post.

I hope this inspires you to try a variation...I can only imagine what you could do...

Package for Notecards

Here is one way to package your notecards as a gift.

Cut one strip of solid cardstock 2 1/2" x 10". Cut a strip of patterned cardstock 1 1/2" x 10".  Center, then glue the patterned strip on the solid strip. Wrap the strip around the six (6) notecards and six (6) envelopes. Overlapping the ends, glue together. Cut a 2" circle from white cardstock and emboss with Cuttlebug Stitched Circle Folder #2. Punch a 1 1/4" circle from solid cardstock. Stamp "for you" (I used Fiskars All Year Greetings Clear Stamps) with white pigment ink. Glue the smaller circle to the larger one. Using 3D-Dots (pop-dots), adhere the larger circle to the patterned strip in the center.

Give it a try and imagine what you could do!

Monogram Notecards

I know it's not even the end of summer yet, but I always start thinking about Christmas this time of year. I thought this would be a great gift for someone.

I used the Cricut cartridge Tie the Knot and cut out six (6) Monogram letters and six (6) Shadow Monogram letter A's. (I only show three of each in this picture). These are cut at 2 1/2". Using the quantity key makes this pretty easy.

For the base of the card, I cut an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white cardstock in half (at 5 1/2"). I then folded the cardstock in half at 4 1/4". You actually get two bases out of one sheet. Repeat two (2) more times to get 6 base cards.

Next, cut out six (6) 3 3/4" x 5" rectangles out of white cardstock. Emboss each rectangle with your favorite embossing folder.  There is a blank card on the top left...(clockwise) I used Quikutz Lines and Dots, Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls, Swiss Dots, Spots and Dots, Tiny Mosaic, and Traffic Jam. You may want to use only one folder for all six cards.

Then, I cut out six (6) rectangles 4" x 5 1/4" of cardstock the same color as the shadow monogram. Center and glue to base card. Next, glue the embossed cardstock pieces to the colored cardstock.

(Sorry...The embossing is difficult to see in these photos.) Finally, glue the Monogram letter to it's Shadow and glue to the embossed cardstock.

These photos show all six (6) different note cards.

On the next post, I will show you how I packaged these cards in order to give as a gift.

I hope you are becoming inspired to try something on your own. I would love to hear from you and what you think. Please leave a comment. Hope to hear from you, until then.....imagine what you could do!

Thank you

 

 

Well, here is my first card to share with you. I was inspired by one of Cardz TV videos (July 7, 2010).

Here are the cuts: The base of the card is cut 5" X 10", then folded in half. I used a cream card stock.The turquoise card stock is cut 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". I then punched the one side with EK Border Punch Scallop Diamond. The navy card stock was cut 3 3/4" x 4". The patterned paper on top of the navy is cut 1/4" less on each side 3 1/2" x 3 3/4". The tan card stock  is cut 3" x 3" with the patterned paper on top again cut 1/4" smaller 2 3/4" x 2 3/4". The rectangle navy card stock is cut 1" x 2 3/4". The patterned paper is 3/4" x 2 1/2". The flower is punched from a scallop punch. The center is punched with a 1 1/4" circle. 

Assembling the card: I adhered the turquoise to the base, keeping it closer to the open end of the card (rather than centering it). Next, I adhered the "circled" patterned paper centering it to the navy card stock. I then cut a 5 1/2" piece of ribbon and taped the ends of the ribbon to the back of the navy card stock. Cut another piece of ribbon about 3" and tie in the center. Cut the ends to leave about 1/2" - 3/4" ends. Place this about 1/8" away from fold of base and adhere. Adhere the light-colored patterned paper on the tan card stock, again centering it, and adhere by lining it up next to the diamond cutouts on the turquoise paper. Adhere the last patterned paper to the navy card stock. Place so that the end is close to the open end of the card and adhere. Stamp "Thank You" on the circle and ink around the edges with a coordinating color. Adhere to scallop. Place a 3-D dot (or square) on back of scallop. Adhere at the end of the small navy rectangle. Last, ink three sides of the base card ends with the same coordinating ink used to ink the circle. 

By changing the paper, colors and patterns, you can create a different look. Here is another example. I changed this card with the colors,  I did not punch the one side with the border punch, I added a rectangle with the sentiment, and made a smaller flower. 


I hope you understand my directions. I know that it may be difficult without step by step photos. Some of the cards that I share with you, especially in the beginning, will not have these step by step pictures. 


Well, I have to say that I admire all you bloggers out there who have been doing this for awhile. This is definitely going to be a learning experience. Expand those horizons...and just imagine what you could do...

Welcome

I've wanted to do this for a long time, but honestly I was chicken...(yea yea yea bock bock). I have followed other blogs for a while and hopefully I will be able to inspire you as other sites have inspired me. Since I am new to this, please have patience with me until I actually get the hang of it. Thanks.