I think I have a paper problem!

7/$1.00. $.20 for paper that was $1.99. Who can pass up great deals like that? Obviously not me! I spent plenty of time and money at AC Moore and Michael’s this past week and weekend and now I need to find a place to store all of my good deals.

I bought another 10 pack of clear paper protectors so that I could start to organize my papers. This time, I decided to make more categories since I am working on some projects for my Etsy site. I added holiday, birthday, babies and other similar categories. Once all of that was done (it took several hours!), I tried to put it all away. I bought a second blue basket with a lid since the first one filled up so fast. Until today, it held the rest of my packs of paper. There was no room for all the paper I had organized so I had to take them out. I need to find somewhere to put them because right now, they are sitting on my desk taking up room.

Here is what it looked like after I organized:

These are just some of the paper packs that are displaced due to my paper shopping spree!

If anyone has any suggestions on how to store the packs of paper I have sitting on my desk, feel free to leave me a comment. I’m always looking for organizational tips. Thanks for stopping by!

Explosion box

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon a video on how to make an explosion box. Since it was a step by step video, I used that to help me make my first one. I didn’t go crazy decorating it, but I still think it turned out cute.

When we were trying to come up with an idea for my sister and her fiancé’s wedding gift, we decided to get them a gift certificate to the hotel that they were staying at. This way, they could use it for dinner, drinks, the room, sightseeing or whatever else they wanted. If you know me (or have read some of my other posts), I couldn’t just give them a gift card or a card saying that the gift card is waiting for them in Hawaii.

So, I decided to make them an explosion box! I thought that I could decorate part of it with wedding related icons and the other part with Hawaii related items. I started off with the outer most layer. I knew I wanted this to be the wedding part, since it was for their wedding! I created the bride from the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge. When I tried to cut the flowers out for the bride, the paper kept ripping since it had to be cut so small. Instead, I cut them out in blackout and then ran them through my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. This gave the effect of the center of the flower and then I was able to just draw the outline of the flowers around them. I used Frosted Lace Stickles around her veil to give it some shine. 

I used the same cartridge for the groom, but since this was a beach wedding he wasn’t going to wear a tux. I chose the prom boy suit and then made it tan. I added some white gel pen stripes to the tie to help it stand out from the suit. 

The next side I did was the Mr and Mrs and rings side. I cut these pieces from my Sweethearts cartridge. When the rings were cut out, you couldn’t really see the lines in the diamond, so I went over them with my teal pen. Then I decided to use my silver stickles to go over the bands and then my Diamond stickles to go over the diamond. I used one of my blue stickles to go over the words Mr and Mrs. 

For the last side of the outside of the box, I chose a sticker that I already had of a wedding cake. It looked a little plain to me so I added Cotton Candy stickles over the flowers to give it some color and some white stickles to the frosting on the layers to give it some more dimension. After that was done, I had the four outside panels of my box done. 

The next step was to create pockets on the backs of the outermost layer. I did this by taking patterned paper and cutting them down to the same size as the layer and then taking my scallop punch and punching out a little lip in each pocket top. I decided to use wedding words and icon stamps I had in my collection to go on the inserts. I stamped the images in VersaMark and then heat embossed them with white powder. 

The other layers of the explosion box were created in the same manor. I used cartridges Pack Your Bags and Life is a Beach for the majority of these images. I also used a couple of the embossing folders I had that said love and together forever. I used some clothes pins that I picked up on clearance at Michaels. Stickles were used to enhance some of the words or images. I tried to use a variety of techniques when I designed the explosion box. Here are the results:

For the last layer’s pockets, I found a quote that I was able to divide up into four parts. I used the clothes pins to number each paper and then added an envelope to the bottom of the inside layer. In that envelope was a message to the bride and groom explaining that their present from all 8 of their siblings was waiting for them in Hawaii.

Here is what the final product looked liked on the night the siblings gave the present to the bride and groom. Unfortunately, the lid didn’t fare so well in its travels. (It had to be put in a carry on all the way to Mexico – I’m surprised it made it at all!! )

As always, feel free to leave questions or comments. Thanks for stopping by!

One more Easter card!

I forgot I made one more card! This one isn’t a traditional Easter card, but it still has the spring / Easter feel to it. I used the Create a Critter cartridge to make this one as well.

First I started off with the bird image from page 65. I cut the base in black, layer 1 in light blue, layer 2 in aqua and layer 3 in yellow. All of the cuts were made at 3 1/2 inches. I then assembled the bird by placing layer 1 onto the base and then adhering the wing, flower and beak to the image.

For this icon, the phrase reads “Tweet” with a cloud around it. I used the darker blue (aqua) to cut the image out at 1 1/2 inches. Since I used a small scrap to cut out layer 1, I had enough to line the inside of the phrase so it would stand out a little more. I also used the silver gel pen to make small dots around the outside of the cloud.

When I placed the bird and “tweet” on the 5 x 7 white card, I thought it looked a little plain. I found another larger scrap piece of paper in a textured green and thought the images would look nice on that. I adhered the textured green card stock to the front of the card and then glued the bird and the cloud down.

It’s a simple card, but I think it turned out pretty well. Happy Easter and thanks for stopping by!

More Easter Cards!

Happy Easter! Today is our Easter dinner, so I thought it would be appropriate to share the rest of the Easter cards that I made.

The first card is from the cartridge Simply Charmed, page 35. I chose the chick sitting down and cut that out in yellow at 3 inches. Then I cut the beak and feet, Layer 2,  in orange, also at 3 inches.  I assembled the chick and then took my black gel pen and added the eyes. If you don’t want to draw the eyes on you can cut the base out of black, Layer 1 out of yellow and Layer 2 out of orange and assemble the chick.  I just prefer to draw the eyes.

I wanted it to look like the chick was outside so I found some grass from Create a Critter. On page 45, I used the Accessory button and cut out the patch of grass in dark green at 3 inches. I then hit the Flip key and repeat last key.  When you hit the flip key, it cuts the icon as a mirror image. I also repeated this step using a lighter green paper. I attached the two layers slightly off center from each other.

I took a plain piece of blue paper that I wanted to use for the sky and attached that to the front of the card using my ATG gun. Next I used my smaller scallop punch and cut out two white circles for clouds. I attached the clouds and the grass to the “sky”. Using black ink, I stamped Happy Easter on the top left and then glued the chick in the grass. After all the pieces were on the card, I decided that it needed a little something more. I used orange stickles on the chick’s feet and beak and lace (white) stickles on the clouds.

The next card has a similar feel to it, with the sky and the grass. Instead of using the Cricut to cut the grass out, I took a dark green piece of paper and cut it to a little thicker than the width I wanted it to be. I then took the top edge and started to tear it, to make the paper look like a hill. I attached a blue piece of paper for the sky and then added the grass on top of that.

I knew I wanted to make a bunny card (it is Easter after all!) so I looked for a bunny image in my booklets. I found one on page 26 of Create a Critter. To create it, I cut the base in black, layer 1 in pink and layer 2 in brown, all at 3 inches. I assembled the bunny and placed him on my card. I realized I forgot to cut out his stomach, so I just took a white gel pen and colored it in.

The next step was to create his accessories. I got a stamp set from AC Moore in the dollar bin that has a basket and some eggs and another set that has three eggs linked together. Using some of the same brown card stock I used to cut the bunny, I inked up the basket stamp with black ink. I then took an oval xlarge Fiskar’s punch to create the base for the three eggs I wanted to add to the card. I stamped those with black ink and placed them on the front of the card.

The last step was to create the saying. I took the larger scallop punch and punched out a black circle. I used the silver gel pen I have and wrote “Hoppy Easter” and also drew stitch marks around the scallop. I glued all of the pieces down and my card was done!

Here is what the cards look like:

Thanks for stopping by!

Waterfall Cards

While I was doing some research for ideas for my sister’s wedding gift, I stumbled upon a YouTube video for a waterfall card. The video gave step by step instructions on how to make one and it looks so different from anything I’ve ever made before. So, I used my sister’s birthday card as the guinea pig!

First I started out with an aqua and black zebra striped paper. I have been wanting to use this paper, but haven’t had any projects that it fit with lately. I placed that on a black piece of paper that was a 1/4 of an inch larger on all sides. I then took a 2 x 9 inch piece of light blue card stock and scored it at 2, 2 3/4, 3 1/2 and 4 1/4 inches. This paper will be used to hold the 4 pieces of paper with the pictures (or words/phrases if you choose) that will be flipped to reveal the next image. Fold the paper along the score marks and place this piece to the side.

Next I cut out 4 black squares at 2 x 2 inches and 4 light blue squares at 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches. On the light blue squares I used black ink and stamped four different shoe images. I then glued them onto the black squares. The next step is to take those squares and glue them onto the 2 x 9 inch strip of paper. Make sure that you glue the square just under the fold line on the paper. If not, when you go to do the “waterfall” effect, the paper will have a hard time folding. At this point, the images or phrases should be stacked on top of one another, with a small amount of the image underneath sticking out.

Before I could glue these pieces down to the card base I had to cut a small strip of black card stock that would house the brads and be the piece that holds the waterfall feature to the card. I put a small amount of ATG glue on both ends of the black strip and then attached it to the zebra and black card stock. I punched two holes at the end with my xacto knife and placed the brads through the holes. For the brads, I used two square ones I had lying around. They were yellow, so I took some paint I had in teal and painted the fronts and the sides of the brad. The brads are used to reinforce the small black strip since a moving part is going to be attached. It gives the card a little bit more stability.

To attach the waterfall feature, I placed a small amount of adhesive onto the backside of the shorter end of the waterfall piece and then placed the shorter end on top of the black strip. The tail (longer side) slips under the black band. Once that is in place, pull gently on the tail and make sure that the mechanism allows all the images to be seen and moves smoothly. If it doesn’t, you may have placed a piece too close to the edge where the paper was folded.

When you pull the tail down, you see a lot of blank space. I decided that I wanted to stamp something on that end so that there would be a message when you pulled the tail. I chose a stamp from the birthday set I had (I believe it was a Fiskar’s set) that was a circle with the phrase “it’s my party and I’ll dance if I want to.” I thought that was appropriate since the images were all shoes! I also attached a small black bow I made from a piece of thin ribbon where you pull to activate the waterfall feature to finish the front off.

The last step for the front of the card is to glue this piece to the card base. I attach my cards to a 5 x 7 inch white card that I bought in a pack of 50 from AC Moore. I use these because then I don’t have to worry about making envelopes to fit my cards. Once this was done, I started to work on the inside.

To make the inside match the outside, I took the same aqua and black zebra paper and lined the inside of the card with it. I then took a black square and a smaller light blue square an attached the two. I stamped the word Celebrate in black ink. Then I added an exclamation point with a black gel pen and wrote a message to my sister to finish off the card.

The waterfall card is a really cool effect. I am going to try this on some of the Christmas cards I make this year. One note – the card is a little heavy because of the layers of paper I used and the brads. I will probably just make it for ones that I can give out and won’t mail because they will probably cost more to mail. I hope that these directions make sense – if any of them are unclear, please let me know!

Here are the pictures of the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Where to score on the Martha Stewart scoring board:

Papers used:

Brad:

After pulling on the tail – revealing the stamped message:

Inside:

Finished card:

Bridal Party Cards

One of the things that I was asked to do for my sister’s wedding was to make cards for the Bridal Party’s gifts. She came over for a consultation one night after I had pulled several of the Cricut booklets that I thought she might want to choose images from. After scouring the books, we came up with a concept for the cards.

Since she is getting married on an island, she wanted the cards to have a beachy feel to them. We looked at all kinds of beach themed icons, but in the end my sister decided to go with one of the paper dolls. Since the card based was made from 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper, I was able to get two 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cards out of each page. That meant I had to cut the paper doll base at 4 inches, in blackout so that I could draw the faces on.

The next step was to find the bathing suit. There are three in the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge, but she went with the Summer Girl on page 33. Since our dresses for the wedding are yellow, she wanted yellow bathing suits and flip-flops. Both of these images were cut at 4 inches.

At the time I made the cards, all of her bridesmaids were brunette. So for the hair, I cut six mom2be headwear icons in brown at four inches. My sister also wanted a bow in the hair. On page 43, I chose the party shift buttons on the Cricut and cut out six yellow bows, also at 4 inches.

The last thing that needed to be done was to cut out the drink. Since that was coming from another cartridge, I had to adjust my measurements. She picked a drink from Pack Your Bags on page 70. This comes with pieces to create layers for different colors, but since I knew it would have to be cut so small, I decided against that. Instead, I cut the image in shadow at 1 1/2 inches (after several trial and error cuts!) and then used my markers to cold in the liquid in the drink and the straw.

Now the assembly can begin! First I drew the faces on all the dolls. Since some of the girls have brown eyes and some have blue, I made a mix of eye colors on the dolls. I then attached the bow to the hair and then the hair to the body. Next was the bathing suit and the sandals. Finally, I placed the drink in her hand and then looked at it. For me, it looked to plain. So, I cut out some more bathing suits in yellow and ran them through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. This gave the bathing suit some dimension and made it look a little more realistic. I thought the card could also use a little bit of sparkle, so I used Golden Rod Stickles in the middle of the bow. (My sister is having us wear gold jewelry so this brought that aspect of the wedding to the card!)

She didn’t want me to add anything to the inside of the card because she had something that was going in there for us. So I was done!

I made these awhile ago and have since learned some tricks when using the Paper Doll Dress Up and Everyday Paper Doll Cartridges. First, you can use images from these cartridges interchangeably. Once you know what size to cut the doll, you take any piece from either of the cartridges and cut it at that same size and it will work! Probably one of the hardest things to master is knowing what size to cut accessories and with either of these two cartridges, the work is done for you. That’s why I like using these so much – it’s a time and paper saver!

A second thing I learned is that when you are trying to use an image from another cartridge to go along with a doll you cut out, take measurements. If I would have just taken a ruler to my card and used it to see how tall my drink needed to be, I may not have needed to make so many cuts. A trick I learned from watching a YouTube video is take your booklet and turn it sideways so that the spine is to the left. Since that is how the image will cut out on your mat, you will have a better idea of how “tall” you want the image to be.

Those are just a couple of quick tips I have learned over the course of using my Cricut. Here are some images of the cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Communion Cards

Happy April Fool’s Day! I can’t believe it’s April already. Where has the time gone?? Well, I know where my time has gone. I have been spending a lot of time lately in my office/craft room (which I probably shouldn’t call an office anymore as I have kicked all of my work related stuff out of that room!). So many projects to complete over the next couple weeks and I can’t wait to share them all!

The things that I can share right now are the Communion cards I made for my godson and his brother. When I first started looking for images  to make these cards, I was looking for crosses and other religious items. I found that the Cricut cartridges that I have didn’t have any. I had some stickers, but it wasn’t enough to be able to make two whole cards. I also looked at my clear and rubber stamps and didn’t see anything that would work either.

Then I got another idea. Why not make little paper doll boys that look like them, all dressed up like they would be on Communion day? I started to flip through both my Everyday Paper Dolls and my Paper Doll Dress Up booklets. In Paper Doll Dress Up, I found the Prom Boy image and thought that would work. First I cut out the body in the blackout feature at 5 inches. Then I cut the pants (Prom boy) and shirt (Prom boy shift) in white, the jacket (Prom boy headwear shift), the shoes (Prom boy Accessories 1) and the tie (Prom boy Accessories 1 shift) in navy blue. The last cut I made from this book was their hair (Prom boy headwear) in a light yellow. All of these cuts were done at 5 inches.

*The reason I cut the dolls in blackout is I like to draw their faces on. I think it’s more personalized. I like that they’re not perfect, like they would be if you cut them out using the regular body cut on the Cricut or using Peachy Keen stamps. I learned how to draw the faces by watching a video on YouTube and it isn’t that hard once you learn where to put all the lines. I usually place the hair on the doll first (not gluing it, just putting it there for placement). The reason I do that is because when I don’t, I sometimes draw the features too high and then the hair gets in their eyes! *

OK – back to assembling the pieces! I first glued on the navy shoes and then the pants. Next was the shirt and then the jacket. Because I cut the tie in the same color as the jacket, I decided to help it stand out a little, I would draw white stripes on it. I did that with my white gel pen and then I attached the tie to the outside of the jacket. I also used the white gel pen to accentuate the lapel and pockets on the jacket. The last step was to attach the hair. This was an easy assembly. Sometimes it’s a little bit more difficult when you’re dealing with a lot of layers, but this one came together quickly. And good thing because I had to do two!

When I went to attach the figures to the cards, they kind of blended in with the background because the card base was white. I knew I needed some background paper so I looked through my stash. Recently I bought a 5×7 pack of paper from Die Cuts With a View that was on clearance called All About Boys. I looked through that and found two different backgrounds that I liked and would look good with the colors I chose for the dolls. Since the boys are twins, I thought making the dolls look alike was good but having two different backgrounds would make them a little more differentiated. I placed both dolls on the backgrounds and went to glue them down. But something was missing.

While looking through my booklets I knew I didn’t see any religious memorabilia, but I did see a schoolbook. Since the book doesn’t have any title written on it, I thought, I can use that and write HOLY BIBLE across the front and can put that in their hands so it looks more like a Communion card! So I cut the book from Everyday Paper Dolls (grad accessories 3 shift) in the same navy as the jacket, shoes and tie. Then I used my white gel pen to go over the lines in the top of the book where the pages were and the spine on the side and wrote in HOLY BIBLE. Those were then attached to the figures and then the figures were attached to the background pages. Once that was done, the whole thing was assembled onto the front of the card.

For the inside, I knew that I wanted a religious poem. I typed into Google search Communion poems and liked one of the first ones I saw. I had bought a quotes stamp (has the ” and ” at both ends of the stamp, plus lines in the middle – very nice for writing quotes on!). I took two pieces of red paper (to coordinate with the background paper colors from the front) and inked up my quotes stamp in black ink. I took my black gel pen and wrote the poem in, once on each paper. Then I addressed each to one of the twins and ended by writing Congratulations on your First Holy Communion! at the bottom. The last thing I need to do is decorate their envelopes, but I haven’t figured out what I want to put on the outside just yet.

Here are the cards. I think they came out really cute and I am proud of them! As always. feel free to leave comments. Thanks for stopping by!