A Very Special Birthday Card

     Aloha My Friends. I am so happy you decide to stop by today. Yup, I am still in Hawaii. I'll let you all know how things are going when I get back home over the week end.
     Well it is Monday so that means another day with the wonderful Imagine machine. I think by now you know how much I love this machine by Provo Craft, lol. I also am getting so much more comfortable with the Cricut Craft Room (CCR).  Last week I showed you the wonderful Vintage Box I made for my friend so I just had to make a card to match.

     First I chose the three paneled window card from Imagine More Cards on page 14. I sized this @ 5.5" and kept the colors the same. Next I used the image found on page 31 for the roses and cut them @ 1.5". I cut out 4 of these, 2 to position on the card and 2 to embellish and pop up. For the bling I used Diamond Glaze and Donna Salassar's Pixie Dust. This is such a sparkly glitter I just love it!
     Now it was time to use the CCR. I wanted to print the Happy Birthday sentiment from Martha Stewarts' Elegant Cakes because this Font is so pretty. I also wanted to add a butterfly for a little something to compliment the card as well as the greeting.

     First I started by placing the card image on my mat. I copied, pasted and then flipped the design. This was so that the oval would be on the right side of the mat for me to print my saying. I wanted to show you what I meant so after taking this pic I deleted the top image and slid my image to the top.

     Now it was time to ungroup the images and move them apart.( I cut the third panel). After choosing my HB greeting on page 47 in Elegant Cakes@ 1" I added the butterfly @ .5" from page 48 and welded the 2 together. I love how easy it is to weld in the CCR compared to the Cricut Design Studio. Now comes the tricky part. I placed the 2 panels side by side making note of where the + was on the panels and placing them on the same line. This was after I had placed my HB where I wanted it to fall on the oval. I did it this way because I wanted to just cut the solid panel and not cut out the oval. The oval is where I wanted to just print.

     When you go to work with your images you want to be sure you saved them on different mats. This way I was able to chose to work on each layer separately. The layer was printed first with the Birthday on velum and then I cut the solid panel by itself. (I used velum but wanted to show you the single layer I cut. I hope this is clearer than mud!!

     Here you can see all the mats I used, lol.

     I used some liquid Pearls to accentuate the oval and colored the butterfly wings with Spica glitter pens.

     You can see the dimension by popping up the flowers. I used the velum to cover the window since I wanted the beautiful printed paper on this card to show through.

     There you have it, a beautiful card for my friend. I also want to wish our top Leader Erica a very Happy Birthday tomorrow. Thanks Erica for allowing me to share my project with all of you. Now check out what the rest of the Team has to share with you over at http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/. I'll be back in MA by Sunday. Until then, happy crafting!~Mary

Vintage Looking Box

    Aloha and Happy Monday! You read that right I am here in Hawaii while my daughter has some surgery done. Hopefully all goes well today.

I hope you all had a chance to hop along with Erica's Team over the weekend. Oh such talented ladies! If not, be sure to check out the 100 Cart Blog Hop on her blog: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

     Today the Design Team was asked to show you projects using the Imagine, E2 or CCR, I chose to use the Imagine and the Imagine More Cards cartridge.

     Isn't this a beautiful box? The image is in the Bonus Content section on page 28. I chose to make this at fit to page and used the colors just as the are. I did use my crop a dile to make a hole and finished with an eyelet to string my ribbon through. Now the fun begins. I took a scrap piece of lace and used a running stitch to gather the lace into a "flower". I had a small fabric rose left over from some project so I thought this went really well with the colors in this box and added it to the center of my "flower".

     I had a rather odd "pearl" so I added that to the flap for a little extra bling. Of course I couldn't stop there!  I have so many beads from different projects that I thought I'd try my hand at a stick pin. Oh I love how this looks! I had to use some glue dots to adhere it.

     I even had a small charm that says "Made With Love". I really love how this came out. My best friends' birthday is in the middle of March so I made this with her in mind. I just have to figure out what to put in it, lol.

     Be sure to checkout what the rest of the Design Team has to show you today. You can find them here:

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentines' Day!

     Happy Monday! You know what that means, it's time to use either your Imagine, E2 or the Cricut Craft Room. Well, since my husband gave me a HUGE Valentines' Day project to do, I used both my Imagine and the CCR.
     My husband is a tool salesman and is in and out of garages all day long. He wanted to offer a package his customers could give their wives, mothers or girl friends for Luv Day. All I had to do was make a simple card and tag to package them up with. No problem I say until he told me he needed 50 of them! Are you serious, 50, in less than a week? I'm a floral designer, my busiest day. How on earth am I going to pull this off you say?
     Easy, with a little help from my Imagine and the CCR.

     He wanted something very simple, nothing cutesy so we decided on Kraft card stock for the base. I used Art Philosophy and the card feature on page 69 @ 5.50". I used a 12x12" sheet of paper so I was able to cut 2 cards on the same page. Then I cut the solid heart out of red @ 2.75 and the layer in cream @ 2.5. They were so easy to put together since I just traced the open heart with a pencil and adhered the heart in place. I used the score marks on the card to lace some ribbon through and tie in a bow.
     I thought it would be too time consuming to use a stamp on all those tags so I turned to the CCR. I first chose the V-Day sentiment from MS Seasonal Cake Art and placed it on the screen. I added a second mat layer to place a tag from Fabulous Finds. This made it easy to size the sentiment in just the right place on the mat. After some copy and pasting, I was able to fit 18 tags on an 8 1/2 x 11" pieces of red card stock.

     I am so glad I used separate layers. You can combine them on the same page however, I discovered that by using them separate I could chose whether to cut, print or both. The first time I chose cut and it was not too successful since it cut everything. The red sentiment was usable but since I did not weld the tag was not.

     Above you see where I used one mat and printed out the sentiment.

     After they were printed I went back and chose the label mat I had made and so I was able to just cut the label. This was helpful so I could also cut more labels to glue my cut sentiments to. (Waste not want not, lol).

     This is the printed label. I just went back and added some faux stitching with a white pen.

     I also cut a 3" heart tag on the same page on Art Philosophy. One cut was with the heart and the red base on solid card stock. Added just a cute heart charm and they were done! I actually wound up doing 60! Bet you would love to see what is inside:

   That's right ladies: pink socks, folding scissors and a chocolate rose pop! Don't laugh, the socks are really comfortable. They got 1 pair each of the low, crew and mid calf socks. I would have loved to make a frilly card but these guys are down to earth and really didn't want to spend a fortune on flowers. They are really practical guys!!!
     I really hope you will try the Cricut Craft Room (CCR). I was intimidated at first but found it a real time saver to finish this project. Now please go back to http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/ and see what the rest of the design Team has to show you.

Erica's Craft Room 100 Cricut Cartridge

You should have started at http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/  if not please start at the 

beginning

Be sure to visit Erica's Blog http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com tomorrow for over  

50 projects that you did not see today....

Also make sure to follow Erica's blog so you will know when she has contests, prizes,

challenges, swaps & special online coupons.

Currently she is running a  Scrapbook & Card challenge over on her challenge blog and you can win

a gift certificate to her web store! http://ericascraftroomchallenges.blogspot.com/ 

This Friday she will announce February's Scrapbook swap.... She has a swap each week and you

have two weeks to make your project each month. There will be a card, scrapbook, tag, swap  die cut 

and embellishment each month! http://ericascraftroomswaps.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to comment along the way on all of the blogs today and yesterday to be entered to win 

the Cricut cartridge or K. Andrew Its Valentine stamp set that Erica is giving away today.

Winners will be announced on her blog on Tuesday!

If you get a chance please visit Erica's Webstore and 

enjoy 15% your total purchase this weekend.

Enter the code 15 during the third step of check out to see the discount.

She has everything crafty.... Cricut cartridges, adhesive, papers, 

stamps and so much more....

www.shop.ericascraftroom.com

If you are coming from  Christina's http://cema1cema.blogspot.com then you are right on track.  
If you just came  across my blog and would like to hop along, you should be starting     at http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

If you haven't guessed yet, this 2 day hop is showing off 100 Cricut cartridges.  

Yesterday was the first set of fabulous ladies from Erica's Craft Rooms' DT and today is the next set 

of talented members.  

For this month, I went with 4 cartridges...

Imagine More Cards
Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art
Cricut Alphabet
Disney's Happily Ever After

 Today I am going to show you what you can do with: Imagine More Cards, M S Seasonal Cake Art ,
with Cricut Alphabet that comes the E2 and Disney's Happily Ever After. I will also show you how to
make embellishments and the CCR to incorporate into a mixed media wall plaque.

     My daughter needed a gift for a baby shower and wanted to give a wall plaque with the baby's name.
I started with a blank 11' x 14" canvas. The background paper is all scraps that I use beacon's laminate 
to glue and topcoat with.  After spritzing with Perfect Pearls white, I was now ready to have some fun.

     The tree is from the Disney cart cut @ 10.50". You will find this image under icons on the second row.
I cut 2 of the images in the same size and adhered them together.I shaded the outline with Antique Linen  
distrezz ink and then misted with tattered Angels Chandelier. Once it was dry I just added a few Stickles
  in Eucalyptus to the leaves.

     I cut the grass from Martha Stewarts' Seasonal Cake art using the cake key feature. I used the 1'x6' border and 
cut both the regular  image and the shadow. Again, I used scrap paper and inked the edges.

     The name PENELOPE was cut from the Cricut Alphabet cart however there isn't a blackout feature, only a shadow.
So (I am getting brave) I ventured into the CCR and used the shadow key but also was able to use the hide contour key 
and voila I  have a perfect black out image! I really love this font that comes with the E2. The scalloped circle is from
Cricut Essentials, a cart that is also built into the E2.

     How cute is this!!! Do you want to see the embellishments? Here we go!

     All the embellishments were made using Imagine More Cards yet all can be customized by using a variety of products to enhance the different looks you can achieve. For example, this plain, yet beautiful image comes to life with stickles, liquid embossing, spica glitter pens and, yes, even Fun Flock! Let me show you where I start.

     I started with the Cricut Class Room and selected my images. You will notice I flipped some of the birds. 

     Here's why. I wanted the birds to be dimensional ( I love depth on my projects) I just glued the 2 images together back to back and then inked the edges and added a Gradient Gem for the eyes. I went back and cut one more single large and small bird facing to the right So I could then curl the wings up.

     I found it easy to place my dimensional bird once the single layer was glued on the canvas.

     I used the owl image from Imagine More cards but this guy was sitting on top of a scalloped circle. A wonderful feature on the Imagine is the editor. When you tap on the image a pencil comes up to edit. For this image I selected 3.25" howeverIi separated the images and chose to white out all the layers so all I was left with was this cute owl. As with the birds, I flipped one so I would have a firm embellishment with 2 layers. Some inked edges, brads and whooo doesn't love this little guy!

      Finally I used the lady bugs from the Imagine cart and left the wider border so they would really stand out on the canvas. Check your manual under settings if you want to custom size the border you have with the Imagine. I use this ALL the time. I finished the lady bugs with some Smooch and sealed it with Diamond Glaze. You can use glossy accents, liquid embossing or any dimensional glaze you have on hand. I added some bakers' twine and metal flowers to finish the look. I also love to finish my edges so I added a ribbon and spaced some white upholstery tacks around the outside edge.

     I hope you liked my project today. Be sure to leave a comment as I would love to hear what you think.

     Now be sure to hop on over to see Erica's Projects http://ericasprojects.blogspot.com  and see the amazing project she has to share with you. 
     Just in case you get lost, here is the order so you don't miss a thing!  

  My Cricut Craft Room http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

                       Amber http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/ 

                       Connie  http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com/

                       Jenn lorist http://jennspapercrafts.blogspot.com

                       Sheila  http://2pawprints.blogspotspot.com

                        Marji  http://fstampaholic.blogspot.com/ 

                        Tonya  http://ittybittyladybugs.blogspot.com/ 

                        Kathy http://3spoileddogs.blogspot.com/

                       Sabrina http://sabrinabellabeautiful.blogspot.com/ 

                        Dana http://danascraftycorner.blogspot.com/ 

                        Christina http://cema1cema.blogspot.com/ 

                       Mary http://mary-fortheloveofart.blogspot.com/ 

                        Erica’s Projects http://ericasprojects.blogspot.com

                       Vicki O   http://luvmygypsy.blogspot.com/ 

                       Claire http://www.ThreeWatersCreations.com

                       Cori www.createdbycori.blogspot.com

                       Vicki’s http://stayathomemomof2inohio.blogspot.com/

                       Teresa  http://createenjoyshare.blogspot.com/ 

                       Gloria C  http://craftnthings.blogspot.com/ 

                     Tiffany http://angel4everthecraftyteacher.blogspot.com/ 

                       Miranda   http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/ 

                       Jessica K  http://homespunelegance.blogspot.com/ 

                       Heather m http://digipage-blog.everything-digital-scrapbooking.com/

                      Blog Candy http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com

 

A New Award And A Little Purse!

     Welcome back everyone. No you are not seeing things my blog has a new look. Ok so it's a work in progress,lol. Thanks Steve for all your help! First I would like to thank Yvette @ http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/ for passing on this wonderful Liebster Blog Award. I feel so honored to receive this.

The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, Liebster meaning favorite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient must then pass it on to five more blogs of note.
           Here are my choices for the Liebster Blog Award. These ladies do such wonderful work and I am sure they will inspire you too:
1.Tamara @ www.sospoileditscute.blogspot.com
2.Teresa @ http://createenjoyshare.blogspot.com
3. Tess @ www.hiltonlife.blogspot.com
4. Janet @ www.janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com
5. Jen @ www.mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com
     

          I hope you had a chance to see my Hang In There post from yesterday. It was so much fun to do! If you didn't have a chance you can find it here: http://mary-fortheloveofart.blogspot.com/2012/01/hang-in-there.html.
     To create this cute purse I used Tags, Bags, Boxes And More. I found the image on pg. 118 and used the fit to page option.The paper is on the Imagine More Cards cartridge. I used the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Ladies Fashion Buckles and the Spellbinders craft foils in silver. In order to achieve a distressed look, I used alcohol inks by Adirondack in silver and pitch black. I love using alcohol inks!!!

      In order to add some texture I used a cuttlebug folder. I think it is Cherry Blossoms. Which ever one it was, it matched the design in the paper perfectly.I put some of Tim Holtz techniques to work on this one. After it was embossed I sanded lightly and added some Spun Sugar ink to the edges. Then, to give it a leather like look, I used an embossing ink and added clear embossing powder and then used my heat gun. So cool!!!! I did have to do it several times but I really love the results.  
 I used a piece of scrap ribbon to lace through the buckle. I just used my ATG gun to adhere to the card and trimmed it even with the edge and added a Celebrate It flowers from Michaels.

     I just wanted you to see the side view. The rhinestone was black but I stamped it with the silver alcohol ink and it blended in perfectly and still has it's sparkle!

     Be sure to visit http://www.shop.ericascraftroom.com/ from January 24th on. Erica has fabulous prices on all sort of crafting supplies. Tell her For The Love Of Art sent you!!!