Pansies and Paper Petals

Baby Shower Sign

2011-12-02T13:00:00.000-06:00

Used the "fit to page" option on my Cricut and cut a large gold circle. Also cut "Baby Shower" in background and regular setting, from New Arrivals.

I cut holes in the bottom of the sign and threaded through ribbon, on which I hung a "Muggle Born" onesie that I had bought on Etsy from AMK Stitches.

Making BABY Signs for a Shower

2011-12-02T00:01:00.001-06:00

For these decorations, I took the cut out letters from another "BABY" sign (Cursive 101; See yesterday's post...) and covered them with Martha Stewart glitter in gold. I used a zip dry fat, FAT pen (it's like 1.5" wide) and smeared it across all the letters, sprinkle with glitter, tap the excess off and let dry. Makes a clean coat. Then I cut the background maroon and pink using Lacy Labels. Punched the top of the letters and hung with gold curling ribbon.

I also framed one of the invitations I had made and put in front of all the candles and decorations.

Baby Shower Decorations

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

More baby shower decorations!

Maroon, gold/cream, and pink. I cut large cursive letters using Cricut Cartridge Cursive 101 - about 9" - from cream paper. I used pink paper as the background of the letter, but kept the cut out letter for another string of "BABY". I used Cricut Cartridge Lacy Labels to cut the maroon backgrounds for the letters. Each corner is adorned with pink rhinestones and gold glitter. I punched holes in the top and hung from gold curling ribbon.

(I was also alternating with hanging from yarn, but yarn stretches so I found the curling ribbon a better bet.)

(it's a girl; definately need winter boots in the winter and a tutu never hurt)

Floral Napkin Holders

2011-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

For the baby shower, I wrapped the flatware in napkins and created napkin holders using two different paper flower files: Calendula and Aster. (see top of my blog for links to download both files for free, if you have an older version of Sure Cuts a Lot.)

I cut the flowers using maroon, and two shades of pink paper, at 3 inches. I assembled the flowers, and put gold glitter glue in the centers. After drying, I flipped the flowers over and put a dot of glue in the center of the back of the flower. I cut strips of gold curling ribbon (about 10" long) and glued the center to the back of the flower. After this dried, I bent back the flower petals and tied the flowers onto my rolled napkins.

I do like the Calendula one better.

Baby Burp Cloth Roses

2011-11-27T09:20:00.001-06:00

I took six pink and white burp cloths to make large roses for baby shower decorations. Precut ribbon (I used gold curling ribbon) to about 6-8 inches. Lay one burp cloth out and fold in half lengthwise (or three times) so that the cloth is about 2 inches wide. Start rolling in from one end, with the ruffled edge remaining out. Take the ribbon and tie it tightly around the base of the "rose"; trim away excess ribbon after knotting. Use cake pop or candy mold sticks and ease into the center of the burp cloth flower.

I put all six in a mason jar, tied ribbon around the rim, and created a little medallion from Cricut Cartridge New Arrivals.

Wedding #11 - Minneapolis

2011-11-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

Bracha and Seth - Minneapolis, MN

Modeled after their Save the Date card, I pulled out navy and tan/gold. The background in pale cream is cut at 8" from Storybook. I sprayed it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, adhered it to the tan background and then trimmed away the excess edges. The blue frame is cut from Storybook as well, but the stamped paper and background is cut from Lacy Labels.

My Aster Flower

See the top of my blog for a link to a page that lists all of my flowers and links to where you can download them for free. Cut with Sure Cuts a Lot.

Baby Shower Invites

2011-10-14T07:28:00.001-05:00

I am hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law in December. She didn't want girly colors and because it falls so close to Christmas, I wanted to design something more muted and victorian. I created the invitation wording and design, and then used maroon and cream papers. The baby feet are cut from the New Arrivals cartridge. Each of the invitations is slightly different.

I had stamps made on Zazzle.com:

Wedding #8 - Detroit (tois)

2011-10-08T00:01:00.003-05:00

In Detroit, downtown at the Cathedral. Dan and Rachael. Dan grew up across the street from me, went to high school with Craig, and his Mom and my Mom are very close friends. He is also a cousin to a very good friend of mine. Oh the networks... Dan and Rachael actually live in Chicago too. I've gotten to know her in the past few months and we have decided we want to live on the same suburb cul-de-sac one day. She is super vivacious, and I gravitate towards that in women.

I cut the envelop at 5" from Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge, from glitter matstock, which does not bend so well when creased but looks pretty! The swirls are cut from Storybook Cricut Cartridge. The swirl on the envelop is cut at 2". The swirl on the card is cut at 4 1/2", then trimmed once glued to the white cardstock. The layered black and cream labels are cut from the Lacy Labels Lite cartridge. Heat embossed "happily ever after" and assembled it all with my ATG gun. The flower is my Generic Basic Flower #1 - two layers at 2" and 1 layer 1 1/4", each offset and edged in red ink for some 'pop'. (Red is not one of Rachael's colors but I wanted to do a bright colored flower.)

I love how this turned out!

Here was my layout:

Wedding #4 - Chicago

2011-07-16T00:01:00.002-05:00

Finally, a wedding where we live! Cristina and Pat, Craig's friend from college. A girl after my own heart, her save the date was black, with a white damask pattern, and blue print.

I cut the envelop using Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge, at 5". The black cardstock for the card was leftover from my own wedding. I heat embossed the white image, and layered paper on the right side of the card: black damask, white glitter cardstock, and white cardstock. Added three small pearls. The envelop has a white rose, made from my SCUT files for a basic rose, sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Silver Bells and Old Lace.

The envelop closes with two holes and a white ribbon through them that says, "Happily Ever After". I use this ribbon on a lot of wedding cards/enevelops. Don't have to worry about shipping them so I feel I can be more creative.

Here was my layout:

Wedding #3 - Detroit

2011-07-09T00:01:00.002-05:00

Headed to the Roostertail in downtown Detroit - scene of both my husband's and my senior proms back in high school.

Anjali and Atish, friends that I have made in Chicago via a friend from graduate school. An Indian wedding, turquoise and gold colors. Their invite was turquoise with gold and a turquoise rhinestine in the center.

I cut the envelop and the card from Sentimentals Cricut Cartridge. I cut them at 4 3/4", but I noticed that the card itself is a little small for the envelop size. I'd recommend cutting the cards for this cartridge about 1/4" bigger than the envelop. That would still allow for space on all sides for the card to slide in and out.

I cut the thin oval border using Lacy Labels Cricut Cartridge. Then I used the discarded part as a "mask", lighting taping it over the hole in the card, and stamping the paper with swirls in navy and a blueish silver ink. The flower on the envelop is my Daffodil flower, which you can download from the link at the top of my blog.

Here is what the card flips open to show. I used the discarded part from the card itself, colored it blue with marker, and glued on the rhinestone:

Here was my layout:

Cut Flowers like Flower Shoppe cartridge!

2011-06-27T07:47:00.000-05:00

Cricuit came out with a new cartridge called Flower Shoppe this month. A lot of these flowers are similar to the files I have created to be cut with Sure Cuts a Lot. If you want to cut similar flowers as Flower Shoppe for free, see the top of my blog for links to over 30 different flowers. Enjoy!

Traverse City Wedding Follow-up

2011-06-20T00:01:00.006-05:00

For all those ladies who like new dresses but cringe at the seasonal expense, an endorsement for Rent the Runway...

With 10-12 weddings this season, I didn't want to wear the same dress everytime and I can't justify the purchase of new ones so frequently (or rather my husband can't). I happened upon Rent the Runway, I picked a dress a week ago online. I never know my size, and they let you get two of the same dresses for the price of one to get the right size. The dresses arrived; I wondered how they would arrive so as not to be crushed, but they come in a long flat box, then they are wrapped in plastic in a garmet bag. Pretty good! It is a bubble dress and it popped right into shape!

The picture made the dress seem more orange then red, and the dress itself is more red, but I like bright, so either works for me. Super fun!

Wedding #2 - Traverse City, MI

2011-06-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

Our second wedding this summer in is Traverse City, MI for Kristen and Jeff, my friends from high school and college. Up north in the lower peninsula. Her colors have been craft brown with gold and twine ribbons. It's on a vineyard!

I used the Sentimentals Cricut Cartridge to cut to envelop, at 4 1/4". I actually chose the image with the flourish cut out, but then covered it up with my Hawthorn flower. It is cut from thick glitter cardstock, with gold glitter glue and a rhinestone. You can download my Hawthorn flower cut file from the links at the top of my blog.

With so many weddings, I have decided I am no longer buying new dresses. I always want to wear something new and the price tag adds up. For this wedding, I am renting a Tracy Reese bubble dress from Rent the Runway. I'll let you know how it goes!

Wedding #1 of 2011 - Denver

2011-06-03T00:01:00.003-05:00

We have 12 weddings to attend in 2011. Bu-sy. Plus the showers, bachelorettes/bachelor parties. And a few babies here and there. What a summer. I like the make wedding cards in the theme of the wedding invitation, but since I am actually making these a couple months in advance (anticipating a busy season), I am modeling them after the Save the Dates.

And so it begins. One of my co-workers is getting married in Denver. An outdoor ceremony and then a Scottish-American reception. My husband is contemplating wearing his family tartan (plaid).

I made this envelop using Sentimentals Cricut Cartridge. Cut at 4 1/4". Navy textured cardstock leftover from wedding programs I helped make for a friend, pink glitter matstock, and white cardstock. The white squares are made with my cuttlebug, trimmed to size, and then punched to get rounded edges. The flower is my cut file for an Iris flower, which you can download for free on Craft Edge (see top of my blog for links).

Here was my layout:

Baby Blues

2011-05-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

We got a diaper genie for a baby shower I am going to this evening. I made a blue and cream Chrysanthemum flower for the wrapped gift, using my paper petals files. I stretched the shapes to fit into 8.5" x 11" paper so the flower was as large as I could make it. Then, I sptrized the center of the flower with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Lemon Meringue.

The circles on the card are cut from Cricut Cartridge New Arrivals at 2" each, with a blue solid circle cut at 1 3/4" for the backing. The turquoise cardstock is embossed with a paisley pattern and my cuttlebug. The little blue flowers on the bottom right corner are brads, punched through the paper.

Here is trick to assemble the center of the chrysanthemum flower. I like to use wet glue for the flowers because it holds well once dry, but waiting for the glue to dry takes a long time. Not being patient, I use binder clips to hold the pieces together until the glue dries:

See the top of my blog for a list of all my flowers and the links to download the files from Sure Cuts a Lot Forum pages. Downloading my files are free!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day!

I made this card with a rubber stamp image of wine and grapes, colored in with markers. I stamped Mom with pink ink and mounted it on top of the card, with pink ribbon and pink rhinestones.

Since I am mailing this card, I could not have 3-dimensional shapes or any flowers that pop out. Instead, I took a generic flower #1, sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Candy Apple, and put that on the seal of the envelope.
Here was my layout:

Mother's Day part duex

2011-05-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

Another Mom's Day Card:

Green cardstock, white cardstock, dark green cardstock. I heat embossed all the little 1" square flower images with green embossing powder. Cut out, mounted on dark green, cut those out, mounted on the green card. Added green ribbon and a "Mom" stamp (actually Martha Stewart alphabet stamps).

Here was the sketch of my layout:

No flowers today - I had to mail this card and some of the flowers do not lie flat enough to mail.

How to Make an Iris Paper Flower

2011-03-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

Here is a video on how to make an Iris paper flower using my "Paper Petals - Iris" petal layer SCUT files. You can download my SCUT files for free from Craft Edge - see the top of my blog for the list and links of all the flowers.

This Iris is the rounded petals Iris, and I did not use the center accent petal layers.

How to Make a Paper Daffodil Flower

2011-03-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Here is a video that I created on how to assemble a paper Daffodil flower that you can use in your crafting projects. I created the files for Sure Cuts a Lot and you can purchase them here (includes both the scut and svg files for this flower).

Pink Birthday Card

2011-02-21T14:25:00.000-06:00

I made this birthday card for my Mom.

Envelop: I used pink swirl paper with a white background for the envelop, cut "fit to page" (6 inches) with Plantin Schoolbook.

Card: I folded pink cardstock at 5 3/4. I used a rosy colored cardstock for the background of the card (ATG gunned to the pink folded card). The left of the card is cut from Cricut Lite Lacy Labels. I cut the shapes at 4 3/4": the background in white, the foreground in pink, the oval shape in metallic pink, and the little tulips in pink (colored in magenta). All the layers were assembled, aligned to the card, and then I cut the bottom of the Lacy Labels image off (to align to the card size). The pink on the right of the card is the the same pink swirl from the envelop with "Birthday Wishes" stamped on it. A baby pink ribbon, and pink rhinestones in the upper right.

I used two of my SCUT flower files to create this flower:
Generic Flower #8 is the larger flower - download here for free
Generic Flower #9 is the smaller flower - download here for free - I just used the inside of the flower
- The flowers are cut from pink cardstock and then colored with pink and red inks. With a pink rhinestone glued into the center.

How to Make a Generic Flower (#7 SCUT)

2011-02-17T00:01:00.001-06:00

Here is a video on how to make a Generic Flower - using my Generic Flower #7 SCUT file.
You can download the file for FREE from Craft Edge. I used four cuts of this file - 2 at a larger size and 2 at a smaller size.

Valentine's Day & SCAL Challenge

2011-02-14T00:01:00.018-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I made this card and then used it as decoration instead of as a card for someone else. :)

The Craft Edge Sure Cuts a Lot challenge for January is to create something for Valentine's Day. I created these files in Sure Cuts a Lot to create a Valentine's Day card. You can download the SCUT file here.

Cut from pink cardstock, folded over with a bone folder. Then the conjoined hearts are cut from red cardstock, embossed with Swiss Dots embossing folder, and I filled the dots with Martha Stewart magenta glitter. Then the red hearts are affixed to the back of the pink heart shapes.

I used "Paper Petals - Generic Flower 7" to make the small white flowers, with red ink edges. You can download this SCUT file for free from Craft Edge - you can find the link at the top of my blog, with a list of all the flower files that I have made.

Happy Anniversary to my In Laws!

2011-02-10T00:01:00.005-06:00

My in-laws anniversary is coming up. My MIL got me Lacy Labels (Cricut Lite) and my ATG Gun for Christmas so I wanted to use them for their card!

I cut an envelop from "Plantin Schoolbook" - a patterned paper with a white back. I inverted the paper so the white would be the mailing side but then the pattern would show when the envelop was opened.

To make the card, I followed the "Cricut Lite Lacy Labels" guide for "ALL BOY". I cut 2 equal shape cutouts 4 3/4" of green metallic cardstock. With gold sparkle cardstock, I cut the shift+image at 4 1/4". With green metallic cardstock at 4", I cut the Layer+image for the border. Yellow rhinestones. The "Happy Anniversary" - I wanted to stamp in green ink but with metallic paper, the ink slides so I used VersaMark archival in black.

I lined up both green pages. I punched 1/16" holes in the top of the two green pages, and then threaded through pale yellow and green ribbon to hold the two pages together. (I like having an inside to write on.)

I used my "Paper Petals - Iris (Rounded Petals)" file to create this flower. I cut the image in yellow cardstock at 3". Then I used pale cream cardstock and cut the same image at 2 3/4". I edged the pale cream cardstock in yellow ink. I decided to omit the center petal layers (the fringe-y insides) and keep it simple. Since I was mailing this card, I did not curl the petals.

(You can download my paper flower SCUT files for free from Craft Edge - see the link at the very top of my blog for a list of all the forum links.)

Circut Lite Cartridge Tip

2011-02-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

A tip for using the Cricut Lite cartridges.... When I got mine, I was not sure how to pick a size for a shape. I was not sure which was length or heigh on the images in the guide.

Here is how the guide looks: (Lacy Labels)

When choosing a size for your final cut, you want to measure the height of the image you want. The dial size you set on the Cricut machine will be the height of the end cut image. The height is also what the Cricut cuts across the mat, or following parallel to the machine.

My trick is when I hold the guide, I turn it sideways so that the images on the guide line up in the way that the Cricut cuts. Then I choose my size on the dial.

How to Make a Lily of the Valley Paper Flower

2011-02-01T00:01:00.003-06:00

Here is a video on how to make a Lily of the Valley paper flower for your crafting projects. The file to create a Lily of the Valley can be downloaded from Craft Edge for FREE - here.