A Perky Little Penguin Card

     Welcome to another Post for My Cricut Craft Room. This week Erica asked the Design Team to use a "perky penguin" on our cards. If you have been following my blog, then you know that Decemeber is a HUGE birthday month for us. Last week my grandson Nicholas in Florida turned 6. This week my grandson Benjamin also turns 6. Yup, we are a very close family, lol. Would you like to see the card I made for Ben?

     Since Ben can be a character, I thought he would love this penguin. I used the penguin from Winter frolic. The image is on page 57 and I cut all the layers @ 3 1/4". The beak is still rather small so I used a Quickie glue pen which is perfect for small areas. I also used a white gel pen for the eyes.

     I cut the layer for the hat and pop twice, once in red and once in yellow. The top of the hat has some Fun Flock to add some dimension (and because I couldn't find any small pom poms in my stash!). The background pattern is from DCWV Winter card stack with glitter.

     In order to make sure I had a perky penguin, I placed him on an action wobble. The trees are left over from some tags I had made and thought they went perfect with this project. I even added a few to the inside of the card. The foremost tree is raised with some pop dots.

     The "silly sixes" sentiment is from Pink By Designs "age is only a #.

     Well that's it for today. I hope you are all enjoying the upcoming festivities. Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends. Now please be sure to head back over to My Cricut Craft Room and see what my design team sisters have to share with you. 

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Gift Tags

     Hello Hump Day! Boy is this year just whizzing by! Today Erica gave us the choice to use rosettes or make 3 tags using the feature key. I made 3 tags using 4 different cartridges: Winter Frolic, Sweethearts and Enjoy The Seasons and Snapshot Everyday Imagine cartridges. If you follow me regularly then you know I like to go over the top sometimes however, there are times when I like to tone it down a bit. I also love to use up my scraps and tags are a perfect way to do this. So let's get started.

     A while back I made a cute card with this same monkey image. I loved it so much (and had some of the printed paper left, that I decided to make some tags.You can find this image on the Sweetheart carton page 43 using the tag feature.I believe I cut it @ 2.5". What I really wanted to show you was what you can do if you don't feel like cutting layers whether for a card or a tag and how just a few minor embellishments can make a world of difference.

     First I cut the top layer and taped some twine to the back for the vine the monkey is swinging from. I also added some Liquid pearls for the mouth and black enamel for the eyes. I wanted a warm brown for the bottom layer so this is what I did:

     I laid the shadow tag right beside my top layer with the monkey and made a small pencil mark for where the monkey is. Then I traced the small heart onto the bottom layer. I just smudged some distress ink in the area of the monkey and filled the heart with stickles and outlined it with a gel pen. Now all I had to do was adhere them together. I also used a white gel pen to add faux stitching around the edges. I REALLY love this gel pen that Erica sent me!

    You should really check out Erica's Store. She carries all of the supplies I used here and so much more with great prices too!

     My next tag is from Winter Frolic and Snapshot:Everyday an Imagine cartridge. I recently signed on to sell  a wonderful chocolate fondue at home parties (I'll share more about this in an upcoming post). I wanted to do something special for those who order from me so I thought I'd create a special Thank You tag to package their orders with.

     This tag is on page 46 and I used the tag and tabs. The red base is from my scraps but, since I am in the business of chocolate I thought I'd fill my tag with chocolates!!!!I cut these @ 2.2" which gives you a 3.2" x 2" tag. The companies' logo is in brown and red so these look great to attach to the bags. I needed to add some dimension so I used satin ribbon to make a bow. Incidentally, I love making bows with a fork. You heard that right, a fork!!! Just Google how to make a bow with a fork. There are several U tube videos out there.

     My last tag is made using Winter Frolic and Enjoy The Season. The tree tag is on pg. 48 of the Frolic cart and the background paper is is on the Imagine cart on pg. 41. I didn't do anything special to this tag because I don't want to take away from the gift it is on top of. You don't have to always "dress" it up. Here's why:

     It is for a Christmas ornament! I am doing these for a local store for them to market so I didn't want to take away from the gift but wanted to give it a professional look.

     That's it for today guys. Hope you enjoyed my projects now, get going and use up those scraps! I'd love it if you would tell me what you think. Be sure to head back over to http:.mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Tag 1 Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

  Ok, so now I get to play and share a few of the projects I learned from Tim Holtz fabulous 12 Tags of Christmas! I just love all the techniques he shared this season and it's the first time I have been able to play around.
     This first tag had some great techniques including some new ones as well as some I always love to use. I cut my own tag using Art Philosophy @ 6.25" which is the equivalent to the manilla tag Tim sells.The first part is to emboss the tag first with a dry embossing and then to add some embossing ink and white opaque embossing powder. The effect is a nice pearled sort of background. Of course that is followed by distressed inking Antique Linen) after a little distressing. I love Tim's sanding grip. It seems to give you nice control and is easy to apply just the right amount of pressure without sanding away too much of the paper. Oh I forgot to mention I used the snowflake embossing folder from the cuttlebug.
     I thought I would use the "Let It Snow" phrase from Winter Frolic so I cut it @2.25 from some glittered card stock I had. I also cut the shadow from a metallic silver card stock from my stash, lol.The snowflakes are also from the Frolic cart.
     The challenging part about this cart is the pinecones. I searched all over to find this die of Tim's but to no avail. So I searched my cartridge "library" and settled on a cut from the gypsy font. I need a LOT more practice,lol. After some distressing inks and shaping, I added some Martha Stewart crystal glitter and some of Tim Holtz' snow cap paint to the edges. Although I am not too happy with the finished product, I know with some practice I will do better.
   I forgot to mention I used a strip of Tim's Seasonal Pack for the music sheet and also distressed the edges with Vintage Photo ink. The final touches were a few leaves cut with martha's leaf punch and some bling and pearls to jazz it up!
     I completed the tag with a nice ribbon and a snowflake brad. I can't wait to do more of his tags!