Gotta be quick

Hello there

Yer, I have to be quick now as it's 23.19 and Chris is in bed asleep and I'm not ready for sleep just yet, as I wanted to finish a layout I started yesterday. I've been doing it whilst tendering my laptop at the same time. My laptop was sick last week but I've had it back this evening, so spent all night re-doing everything as it had a complete restart. That's the second time that's happened in less than six months, so I'm not a happy bunny with technology. I'm three quarters of the way to semi normality with it. I wont start a rant on that because I'm meant to be making this a quick post :-)

Edit: - It took me quite a few tries to get this photo right of the glossy accents on the waves last night. For some reason Blogger kept putting the photo upside when I inserted it but it's done it correct, first time this morning??!! Maybe it's just like me and more awake this morning   :-)

The envelope where I put the journalling was cut at 4.5inch -
it's from the Wild Card cartridge- the doily on page 52.
The word 'Chillin' was created with the same cartridge's alphabet function.

The ripple effects shadowing the shape of the photo mounts was a last minute add on, which really ties it all in, as I wasn't really happy with it before then; hence this late night. It was a happy accident, as I was actually looking for some other embellishments I know I have somewhere or other and then I found the Americana bahama blue paint which I've never used and had forgotten about and KNEW that was my saviour for this layout and then the idea popped up.

Finding the paint and a working
computer ended a good day

That topped off a great crafty day for me as I also had a lovely few hours at the Crabapplecrafts birthday celebration, where several demos were going on all day. I enjoyed them all but Rae Dalal is very good company and showed us some great techniques and some new Dylusions sprays and goodies including the two below;

Right, times up and it's almost 23.45. Let's see if I get grief for brushing my teeth and getting into bed late. Wish me luck :-)

Take care out there and try not to upset 'him indoors'.

I really should know better

Hello there

 Sometimes inspiration and that 'oh yes, this is a brilliant idea' feeling isn't a good thing in the whole. The card I'm posting about today is an example of that. I obviously got carried away with the fun of making it and didn't think clearly about the process involved. I still enjoyed the project but the slight 'blip' I learnt about at the end of the process put a slight dampner on things.

Sit comfortably and I'll begin this tale.
N.B - A word to the wise - don't follow the instructions for this card until you've read the whole post!

This is a Cricut project - so firstly I cut the basic Scallop card from the Wild Card cartridge at 'fit to page' on a 12 x 12 mat. In the photo above, the top piece is the blackout version of the card, which is glued to the basic card blank on the inside. One of the brilliant things about this card is the lovely corners it has and also the holes it provides to thread the ribbon through. On the shift icon function, you are provided with cute surrounds for those holes, which add to the whole thorough detail.



Those pieces of patterned paper on the front of the card are cut using the liner function. Please make sure that your paper is facing the correct direction BEFORE you cut it, unlike certain crafters who shall remain nameless :-) But hey, I'm sure that nameless crafter will still use that incorrect cut in her scraps box.

My not quite immaculate little box of ribbon off cuts

In your doubtlessly immaculate ribbon box, collect a suitable coloured ribbon/twine/cord and make sure it is long enough to allow the card to be opened, without the ribbon coming out of either hole on both sides of the card's opening sides.  I found one just the right colour and the right width, so I was a happy girl.

Now follows the bit which threw me off whack. The next sentence explains where it all went slightly awry. I cut the envelope AFTER finishing decorating the card. Uh uh! Not good! Not bright, Diane! I cut it at fit to page but just as I was cutting it, I knew it was going to be the wrong size. Whenever doing these card and envelope cuts from a Cricut cartridge, you ALWAYS cut the envelope first, so then you know what size to cut the card  and all it's accompanying decorative pieces. Since it was cut at fit to page, I couldn't make it any bigger to fit my card, as I only have a 12 x 12 cutting mat.
It's a really pretty little envelope but I can still use that for another card or in a mini album or on a scrapbook page or..... well, sufficive to say, I won't be throwing it away.

I cut another envelope out of the same patterned paper as I had used on the card, using my Ultimate Pro to provide the correct size. I also added a frame from the same scallop card page 32 of the Wild Card booklet; that frame was necessary, to allow me space to write the address legibly for the postal system, as this card is winging it's way to Australia to my lovely step mum.

I love this card as it was so easy and yet gives such a pretty appearance. The frame on the front is the same as the frame I used on the envelope but without the centre piece. The butterflies are leftovers from another card I made this week; they were cut from the Walk in my Garden cartridge from page 116 in the booklet- it's btfly2.

So the morale of this post is that it is totally advisable to cut your envelope FIRST and then make your card cut, at the same size as it sets the envelope (it displays the size on the little monitor of my Expression machine).


Take care out there and learn from my mistakes! :-)

Congratulations on passing exams

Hello there

Here's a card I made recently for a very clever wise old bird (she's so going to kill me if she reads that 'old' bit :-)) who has recently found out that she's qualified for ACCA, which is an accountant's certifcate. She has worked full time the whole time she's been studying, so she should be extra proud of herself.

I had the basic idea of using the owl from Create a Critter and then the rest just flowed from there. The bunting is from the Carousel cartridge (I hand wrote congratulations on there) and the grass is from Plantin schoolbook cartridge. I like the way the branches go over the edge of the card; thankfully I knew the envelope I was using was bigger than the card blank. The trees are on an icon feature for the 'booklet' on page 38. I drew the eyelashes on the owl myself. The branch the owl is sitting on is from page 25 of Create a Critter; using the accessory function. I used Cricut Craft room to get it all the correct size.

I decorated the inside with a frame from Wild Card cartridge. I cut it out twice so that I could get a different coloured internal section. I used MS Word to write the sentiment in the middle using font Sakkal Majalla.

I used 'real dial size' option on the letters 'ane',
 as they were too small otherwise in comparison
 to the J

I machine stitched around the edges of the front.
This is a cartridge heavy card but I really enjoyed making it and Jane, the world's your oyster now!

Take care out there

Using up scraps

Hello there

This week on my blog I've been writing about using scraps off my desk. These are the scraps I've used up today.

I used the flower shape, which is a residue die-cut from something or other, as a template to cut out two more of that shape and then I used my Cricut to cut out varyingly smaller versions of the daisy2 from the Walk in my Garden cartridge. The die-cut will have been about 7cm, so my other daisies were cut at sizes like 6 and 4.5.

All I did then was lay the pink chequered paper down, put a strip of coordinating card down as a bar to put my flowers onto and then layered my flowers up, put self-adhesive gems in the middle and I was almost finished.

All I added to it was a die-cut from Wild Card cartridge; cut from the same card as I used as a band for the flowers. I'm sending it to my daughter, sister, nephews, mum and step-dad as they're all together on holiday. I am definitely thinking of them and hoping that they have lovely sunshine all week, to enjoy family time.
I perhaps should've chosen a darker pink as a band for the flowers but other than that, I'm very happy with how I used those scraps up. There's still a small amount of the chequered paper left but enough is enough, I chucked those in the bin.

Take care out there

Whilst clearing my table off - setting myself a challenge

Hello there

Not long ago; last month in fact, I made a card for a new baby. Since then I've had the die-cut card base (which was too big for the envelope I made first), sitting on my table. Today I've put it to good use. I don't know anybody who is expecting a baby but who knows when I might need it in the future or someone might ask me to make a card. I'll be able to pretend that I worked long into the night to make this card in time, whereas all my readers will know different. There's nothing like putting people under a guilt trip, hee hee.
The card blank was cut from handmade paper and not really substantial enough to stand up on it's own, so I cut the back part of the card off the pram shape and then cut another card base from normal card; I used fit to page function, which cut at 7 3/4in. I glued my pink base onto that.
Unfortunately my pink card base had been stained by ink whilst sitting on my desk but I wasn't going to let that get in my way.

I cut the same image with the liner function button and used scissors to cut off the pram hood section. The paper I used has a textured look to it which is perfect for the material look I need for the pram, as the handmade pink paper also feels slightly velvety.


It's because of shapes like these that we need lots
of different types of glue

The words 'new arrival' were cut from the Wild Card cartridge too at 7in. The handmade paper does need multi-cut to be selected on the Cricut, as it's very fibrous. I'd also advice cleaning the blade afterwards and don't use a brand new cutting mat or it'll be ruined.

I love the way the blue 'pops' due to everything else
being so pink and white

The envelope was created with a piece of card measuring 28cm x 28cm using my Ultimate Pro to score the fold lines. Easy!
I've got these pieces saved from that last card too but I won't stick it to the front of the envelope until I find out who it's being used for and whether or not it'll need to go in the post or not. Until then they'll live in the envelope with the card.

I've got a few other things loitering on my table, so I'm challenging myself to make cards or scrapbook pages with them. Why don't you try it?

Take care out there

Fun and games

Hello there

Here's a birthday card all of my own. I didn't look through books and magazines for inspiration. I haven't seen a card demo which has inspired me. I just used my own inspiration from this:

Yes, that's right; a scrap of paper left over from some tags I've cut out in the past. From this I thought that I could line up three on the left, then go down to two tags and then one large tag with the sentiment on. So off I went to play and practise and loved it.

The photo on the left shows what I ended up when messing around with my Big and Juicy, mountain meadow pad = not good but that pad was tipped every which way during the house moves I had to make in one year, so not sure it's much good for anything now but I'm not throwing it out.

having fun trialling ideas out

I finally decided on Wild Honey distress pad and it all rolled from there. I applied it by stamping onto my craft mat a couple of times, sprinkling a bit of water on and then rubbed my blending tool into it and then rubbed that onto the card covered by my improvised stencil. Easy! I also coloured the large tag that way.

It doesn't look crash hot on it's own

I then decided to make the second layer out of die-cut tags (size 6.5cm from Plantin Schoolbook) and coloured them with brown sugar dabber by Jenni Bowlin and gold Adirondack dabber. I've actually made two of these cards; one lot of tags had a gold base with brown splodges and the other vice versa.
I used Wild Card cartridge to cut the happy birthday sentiment from (page 61 of booklet). Using the Craftroom made it so easy to match up with the large tag and get the size exactly right. You're able to cut layer by layer, so as long as you put the selected icon onto the 'mat' as a separate layer in the first place, it makes cutting just one part of the overall image, extremely easy.

I dabbed around the large tag with the gold dabber.
Outlining the inked tags helps give better definition to them.
The backing paper is from a K&Co paper pad I use alot as it's HUGE!

Let's get this card assembled

 With a bit of help from Baker's Twine:

I had the idea to emboss/deboss a tag image onto the envelope to put the address into; it's from an embossing board which came with my Crafter's Companion Ultimate Pro. Love it!

Not easy to see on white card but click on the image
to get a better view if you're daft like me
 and get kicks from such things :-)



Take care out there

On a theme

Hello there

Since I enjoyed making the birthday card I showed you yesterday so much, I decided to make another card on the same design. This time I needed a thank you card for the ladies who trained me recently in my new job.
As you will see, most things are the same such as the main topper. The envelope was slightly different too but still cut from Wild Card Cartridge- Doily-shift cut at 'fit to page'.

The frame around the sentiment is from the same cartridge. I cut it at 8.47cm x 4.27 and then I got the word 'thanks' from Lyrical Letters cartridge and on CraftRoom I made sure it was exactly the right size to fit in the frame. I then cut the frame from the same paper as the flower was made from and the word 'thanks' was cut from some blue cardstock.

Yet again, a very small piece of card saves the day

The flower shape cut from the Paisley cartridge (button feature)
will allow me to write the recipient's name on the envelope

I like.

Take care out there

Keep it simple

Hello there

This year I have really liked a light blue/turqoise colour. I have a few things now which are that colour. I've arrived at this card through that love and a variety of experimenting.

I found a tutorial for twisty flowers on 'Me and the Little Rascals' blog.

Once I'd made a couple of those, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them and then I remembered about a friend of mine's birthday in July, so I got to planning and scheming.
Part of that involved looking more into the Wild Card cartridge and what it has to offer. One of the almost by accident things I found was an icon feature on page 52 of the booklet. I set the Cricut to far too low a pressure setting and a depth setting of 3, which I knew to be far too low to actually cut properly the card I was using. I cut it at 7cm. The end effect was like purely creating an indented pattern in the card, which I found really pretty. It is actually created as a square design but I just put it back into the Cricut and cut a circle shape at 6.5cm around it (using the centrepoint feature), which suited exactly what I wanted, as a result of doing a basic layout on a scrap piece of paper.

You'll need to click on this image to see any of the detail

I didn't end up using the leaf cut as I remembered about the gorgeous bluey lace I have, which is much prettier.
I made sure that the frame cut I made was large enough to go around the stamped sentiment; which is such a brilliant feature of owning a Cricut and Cricut Craftroom software.
I really enjoyed making this card despite the fact that you might look at it and think it's too simple but that's exactly why I like it. It has the colour I like in it and white. There is detail but it's discreet; not shouted out from the rooftops. I'm going to make more monochrome cards now. I think it's refreshing and clever in it's simplicity.

I hope the recipient likes it too. The envelope was cut from KandCo paper from the Wild Card cartridge again on page 52.

Take care out there

Thanks

Hello there

I've just finished a training placement for work. I'm really glad to have finished as the travelling wasn't fun; the early starts; the training in a different place to where I'll actually be working has all taken it's toll on me. The two ladies who were mainly training us though were very kind to us in different ways, so I made them each a card.

One of the cards I made was with the freebie papers from the August issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft. I used some of their inspiration to help lead me in a good direction.

Alot of the time when making cards these days, I like to make sample pieces to test the design out before using good card/paper. This also helps me get sizes right and make a practise layout which can inspire me further with ideas or just confirm what I had planned.

The tags were cut from the Winter Woodland cartridge, 3dBld5 -tag feature, one cut at 9.5cm and I think the other was about 6cm but I forgot to write it down. I didn't say my recording method was foolproof! :-) It's on page 79 of the booklet. The word 'thanks' was cut from the Wildcard cartridge - 'sweep', phrase function at 10cm, page 42 of the booklet. The flowers were cut at three different sizes ranging from 4cm up to 6; they are on the Walk in my Garden cartridge, shadow function, daisy1 - page 82 in the booklet.


I loved that I could use one of my new Spectrum Noir pens to ink the edges of the die-cuts. In the past using an ink pad to edge such intricate shapes was not successful but this is so easy and really made a difference, especially to the word Thanks.

I liked the relative simplicity of making the card, yet the final look I'm also happy with too.

Result!







Take care out there

New baby

Hello there

One of my neigbours have had a new baby this week and since I have a day off work today, I've made time to get a card done. Obviously I've known that I would be making a card for a while, so occasionally I've looked at ideas. I bought the Wild Card cartridge a few months ago and there's a great pram ('carriage' as it's called on the cartridge) shaped card on there, so that was my starting point. I didn't need to draw a basic design of my card for this reason but I did jot down notes of pages where certain cuts are and watched a brief video from papataya9804 to set me off on my way.

Those are the papers I selected at first to use on the card but even though I find that selection process helpful, I rarely stick to it as I go through the actually making of the card. I haven't seen the baby or the parents to speak to yet but when Chris saw them arriving home (whilst he was ironing I might add; I have to get him doing something whilst he spends hours and hours and hours watching sport!) with the baby and a large pink balloon. That's the reason I went with pink shades at first.
The cuts I used were:
fit to page for the envelope from a 12x12 paper
5.5in for the card base
Liner -5.5in
icon - bow -5.5in
- rattle - 3in
frame - 5in

I love it when I can find a scrap of card which is exactly the right size for the cut I want. It often gets me into 'trouble' though, as I sometimes push my luck and the card isn't quite big enough for what I want. It's good to be careful but being too frugal is just silly.

The wheels of the pram were just white to begin with but I didn't like that, as they blended too much with the white of the back part of the card. I wanted to use the blue card I'd used on the bow and the sentiment but I didn't have enough to cut the pram shape again. I decided to draw around the wheels onto the blue card and then cut them out with scissors - job done! I inked them with Stampin' Up's tempting turquoise.

I added a little button to the bow for detail. I NEED more buttons :-)
To make the inside of the card appear better with the bow and rattles showing on the inside too, I cut both again with the back of the card facing up and glued them on the inside.

That's that. Card's done during a hideously rainy day - there are benefits to rain after all!

The colours are much better in real life

The frame on the front of the envelope was cut twice in order to give me a pink frame with the cream inner. The rattle was cut at 5in and was a 'mistake' from when I was cutting the rattle for the pram, as it's far too big to sit in the pram. I love being able to use 'mistakes too. I still have another card blank, which I cut at 5.5in but quickly realised that the envelope would never fit around it and didn't want to make my own envelope at the time. I can use that though for another card for the next person who has a baby - waste not, want not :-)

Take care out there