Diana's Designs Blog

Robin Birthday Card Using the Cricut

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:43:00 +0000

For this card, I based it on this beautiful Songbird design by Mrs. B. I used a floral pattern paper from a Die Cuts With a View designer pack as the base and simple patterned blue paper from the same pack for the robin. The size of the card is 5 1/2" by 8" and the size of the marquee, from the Cricut Storybook cartridge, is 6 3/4". The robin is from the same cart and it is 2 1/4"I used the shadow option for both using dark brown card stock. The stick is from Cricut Doodlecharms and was cut at 4 1/4". The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and the reused ribbon was from a gift I had received a while back. I adhered the marquee using pop dots from the dollar store. I also used a Zig 2-way glue pen for the bird and twig, and of course, my lovely pink ATG gun for the rest.

Oh, and I finally used my Tim Holtz distress ink along the edges to give a bit of an antique look. I didn't have any craft sponges on hand so I found an old rag and used that to apply the distress ink. It served a dual purpose since I also used it to wipe any ink that got on the counter top. I really like how it turned and had to stop myself from adding bling. I still feel like it's missing something though.

I had an extra robin shadow so I used it on the inside and cut out a green flower from the pattern paper.

Anyway, I need to get to bed. Happy Groundhog Day!

Penguin Christmas Cards Using the Cricut

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Last month, the vocal music teacher at my school asked if I could make some Christmas greeting cards for her. So I googled 'Cricut Christmas Cards' and she saw one that caught her eye. It was a penguin card by Olive Juice Studio that used sheet music, snow flakes and a big, bright ribbon. I don't have the Winter Frolic Cricut Cartridge ~~yet~~ so I had to make do with what I had.

I chose the cute penguin on the Christmas Cheer card and the snowflakes from Joys of the Season. The penguin was cut out at 3.5" since I chose to make cards to fit an A2 envelope. I really should write down the sizes but I'm pretty sure the snowflakes were cut out at 1 3/4" and 1", then decorated with icicle Stickles. The sentiment frame was from the Wild Card cartridge and I believe that was about 3/4" on Real Dial Size. The stamp is by Stampin' Up and the ribbon from the dollar store. Using white card stock and my new HP Photosmart eStation All-in-One Printer, I made a copy of some Christmas sheet music and used it for the penguin.

Even with the original design as inspiration, I still had a hard time with this one. It just wasn't coming together as nicely as I had hoped. I feel like I should have added some snow hills as a background.

Anyway, hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year!

Have a Beary Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:51:00 +0000

I would like to take this time to wish you and your loved ones

a beary merry Christmas!

May the holidays be filled with happiness and peace!

Here are two polar bear cards I made for a colleague of mine for her twins to give their teachers.

Lilac Ampersand Wedding Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:10:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a wedding to attend this month. It was really nice and we were so lucky that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law offered to watch the kids for us last night. Plus, the kids always enjoy sleeping over at grammas, which isn't as often as they would like. But let me tell you how shocked I was to wake up at noon today. Yes, noon! I have never, EVER slept in that late since having kids. I couldn't believe it! But I loved it, of course. That was about 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Um, hello! Thank you, sleep gods!

Anyway, I chose to make another Tracy Gough inspired ampersand card using lilac since the bride used a light purple on her handmade wedding invitations. Again, the Ampersand was cut from Plantin Schoolbook at 6" in white and also in lilac using the Shadow feature. The lettering was cut at 1". This time, I tried the groom's hat from the Wedding Solutions cartridge and trimmed a bit of the tiara on the sides. The swirls were from the same cart as well.

Tonight, I hope to make a couple of birthday cards for my mother and my dearest friend from elementary school who share the same birthday on November 16. Not sure what I will make but if I do get a chance to make them tonight, I'll be sure to post pictures for you.

In the meantime, you might want to head on over to my other blog for a chance to win a super cool HP Photosmart eStation printer. It's valued at $399.99 and I'm sure it will come in handy for scrapbook lovers. Think of all the photos you can print at home and more! I feel bad it's only open to Canadian residents, though.

Yes, Another Ampersand Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:34:00 +0000

When it comes to making wedding cards, the first thing I think of making is a Tracy Gough inspired Ampersand Card. I hate to admit that I am not nearly as creative as she is and never want to take credit for her unique idea so please head on over to her blog Scrap Happens and show her some love.

The size for the ampersand is the same at 6" as well as the lettering, cut out at 1". I used silver and white with a flower in a "bleu de France." Yes, I looked up that colour name. I also added some blue adhesive jewels to match. Pretty!

I have a wedding coming up next month.

Looks like I'll be making another one! :)

Cricut Indie Art Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:42:00 +0000

Here are a couple of cards I threw together for the end of the school year. I made the star card for my vice principal who is being transferred to another school. When I first started at the school where I work now, he was a grade 7 teacher and I taught French to his students. It was the first time ever that I enjoyed teaching French to an intermediate class and I truly believe it was because of him that it was such an enjoyable class. He really proved to be an excellent role model to me as a teacher and he later became our VP. He was a wonderful administrator and had developed an excellent rapport with our students and school community. He will be greatly missed but will always be a 'star' in my books!

This is the card I made for our principal. I chose the electric guitar on the Cricut Indie Art cartridge since he plays the guitar among other things. I used some textured card stock for parts of the piano. I like how these cards both turned out.

Personalized Baby Girl Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:23:00 +0000

One of my colleagues had a baby girl last year and she will be turning one next week. Since she asked me to put together a personalized card to commemorate her first birthday, I decided to use the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge and went with the hippo cut. I made a large card so I cut the hippo at 3" and used the shadow feature as well. I embossed the white layer using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and adhered the hippo onto the shadow using pop dots from the dollar store. The flowers are also from the Create a Critter cartridge and can be found on the hedgehog page. The sizes range from 2" to .5" in half inch increments. I inked the edges using Studio G ink and added some pink adhesive jewels I bought at the dollar store. The letters and number are from the Cricut Storybook cartridge cut at 1.5" using the Shorty/Holes feature. The ribbon was purchased at Michaels as were the flower brads. Pink and brown combos have become a favourite of mine lately and I like how the one kind of blends in with the flowers so as not to detract from the other focal points.

Teacher Thank You Card - Merci

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:56:00 +0000

Here's a quick post to share a card I made for a co-worker. She has twins who just finished JK so I decided to add two worms to represent them. They are from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge. The apple is from Cricut Plantin Schoolbook using the roly poly feature. The word 'merci' is from the Cricut Beyond Birthdays cartridge and was also appropriate since her children attend a French Immersion school. I chose a black background to sort of represent a blackboard. For a final touch, I added some black Stickles to the worms' eyes and antennae. I placed it on the console table to dry and told my husband it was still wet. Two minutes later, my husband put his cell phone right on top. (Picture me in utter disbelief.) I was just about to leave for work until I saw the disaster. At least he took the kids to daycare for me while I redid one of the worms.

Personalized Baby Boy Card Using the Cricut

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Today we went to a birthday gathering at a friend's place who just turned 40. He also recently became the proud father of a super cute baby boy. I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a personalized card for baby Joshua. I had never before used the sailboat cut on the Cricut New Arrival cartridge so I decided to use it this time. It's a pretty simple card sized 5 1/2" by 4 1/4". The boat was cut at 2 1/4" and the letters were cut at 1" using Plantin Schoolbook. I also embossed it using the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. Here is a closeup:

Happy 60th Birthday Card Paper Pups

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Here's another birthday card I made last week for a different colleague who turned 60. She's actually my teaching partner who has a dog and teaches French, hence the beret. The terrier is cut at 2.5" and the sentiment is cut at 1.25" using the border function from the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge. The number 60 was cut at 2.5", I believe, from the Cricut Storybook cartridge. I kind of wish I had used the shadow feature for the number.

Happy Birthday Puppy Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 06:13:00 +0000

Here's a card I made for a colleague at work. He owns a dog and likes the outdoors so I chose a cut from the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge and some earth tones for the colour scheme. The pup is cut out at 2.5" and the sentiment, from the same cart, was cut out at 1.25" using the Border feature. I used a little chalk to add some colour to the pup's spots. The ribbon was recycled from a gift. It was too nice to throw away and in good shape. Plus, I loved the colour. This was definitely a fun card to make.

Hello Kitty Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:32:00 +0000

Here's a quick little card I threw together for my daughter's friend who turned 6 last week. I cut out Hello Kitty at 4" from the Cricut Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge. I used my new stash of patterned paper from a new value pack I found at Micheals, where I also bought the ribbon. The adhesive jewels are from the dollar store. And the sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

Black and White Sympathy Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:54:00 +0000

Okay, I lied. It's not just a black and white card. There's also a splash of lime. used this card as my inspiration for this one. It was just so perfect, I had to try a version of it. The sentiment is cut at 2" from the Cricut Wild Card cartridge and the keynote is from the Cricut Storybook cartridge. The design paper is from Die Cuts With a View and the card base is a pearlized white from Michael's. The flowers were given to me by old friend who got married last year. I really like how this one turned out.

Create a Critter Panda Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:45:00 +0000

Here's another card that I had made a while back so I don't quite recall the sizes. I used the Panda from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge and I assume it was cut at about 3.5" since the card is a standard 5.5" by 4.25". I found the ribbon at Michael's and the sentiment is from a Stampin' Up set. I used dimensional foam dots from the dollar store to adhere the panda to the card. Overall, I love all the bright colours.

T-Rex Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:56:00 +0000

Last night, I was clearing out some photos from my picture file folder and came across some photos of cards that I had made months ago. I will be posting more pictures of them but unfortunately can't recall the exact sizes of the cuts. The size of the cards themselves are pretty standard at 5.5" by 4.25". Here's a really cute dinosaur card using the T-Rex from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge. It's a little plain but I like the purples and the yellow together. They're... complementary.

Personalized Dinosaur Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:20:00 +0000

This week, my nephew is turning 7. His party was last week and, knowing he really likes dinosaurs, I decided to use the cute dinosaur cut on the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge. There are four layers on the dinosaur alone. I also used the Cricut Pooh Font to cut out his name. I hear he really liked it. Yay!

CPS 209: Personalized New Arrival Card - Baby Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:15:00 +0000

Yes, another baby card! This is the second one I made yesterday in between the six loads of laundry. The layout for this card was inspired by CPS sketch 209. It's a basic sketch, simple and clean. Just how I like 'em! There is a key note cut in the sketch and since I don't really use them much in my designs, I really wanted to incorporate a key note in this card. There are so many to choose from on the Cricut Storybook cartridge, too. The size of this card is approximately 7.5" by 5" to fit inside a Hallmark greeting card envelope. The layers were all cut a 1/2" shorter than the previous ones. The pink key note (from the Thank You cut on the Storybook cart) was cut out at 3.5" and the white one at 3.25". The lettering is from the same cart and I cut it out at 1.25". The baby was from the Cricut New Arrival cartridge cut out at 2.5" and I used my Stampin' Up chalks to add colour to her face, which is hand drawn. The patterned paper is from a pack I found in the Staples craft aisle. I added some icicle Stickles to make the letters pop as well as some bling from the dollar store. For the inside, I had the stem laying around from a previous craft and thought I'd add some flowers I had bought last year from Walmart. I hope Sophia likes it as much as I do. I mean, she's only a week old. I'm pretty sure she won't have much to say.

"Hello Baby" - Baby Carriage Shape Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Today I'm working on a couple of New Arrival cards, all of them for girls. This is the first one I hope to finish this afternoon. I used the baby carriage from the Cricut New Arrival cartridge and cut it out twice in brown at 5" using the shadow feature. I then cut out two more in pink using the standard cut and two more in a patterned paper using the standard cut in shift mode as well as in white. I inked the edges using a brown ink by Craft Smart, added some brown ribbon and used a pink flower brad to attach the flower (from the dollar store). The sentiment is from Stampin' Up. To make the card, I folded back the top 1/2" of the back of the card and attached it to the front using my Scotch ATG gun. When it stands it kind of looks a 3D baby carriage with four wheels. I think I'll be making more of these!

Bridal Shower Card - CPS 207

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 02:35:00 +0000

Today, I attended my husband's cousin's bridal shower. So of course, I had to make a card. It's been way too long since the last card I made and as always, I had to use my Cricut. The sketch is from this week's CPS Sketch challenge and I chose the colour scheme from the bridal shower invitation. A friend at work gave me a bunch of miss-matched envelopes from a card store where she works on weekends, so I decided to make a bigger, more standard greeting card. It measures about 7 1/4" by 5". I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, ribbon from Michael's, a couple of Prima flowers and design paper from Die Cuts With a View.

And by the way, I am celebrating my 5-year blogoversary on my other blog Toronto Teacher Mom with a $50 Amazon gift certificate giveaway. It's open to Canada and the U.S. and I would love for you to be a part of it. Check it out!

Butterfly Birthday Card Using Cricut Stamping Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Last Thursday, it was my 33rd birthday. It also happened to be the birthday of my teaching partner's daughter. And can I tell you what a day it was! I share my office with the vocal music teacher as well as ma partenaire. The music teacher was so sweet to buy me freshly baked zeppole di San Giuseppe. There were so delicious! They look like the ones I found on pictured in The Swan Cake with a recipe in Italian. I could translate it for you but to save time, I found a similar recipe for zeppole di San Giuseppe here. To continue, my French partenaire bought a cake to share with the staff who all sung Happy Birthday, as did my grade 7 class and my grade 4 class. To top it off, she also ordered a beautiful flower arrangements to be delivered to the school! What a doll! Anyway, she asked if I could make a card for her daughter's birthday and how could I say no? I wanted to make a couple from which she could choose her favourite but I didn't have much time. So I made this butterfly birthday card. The butterfly is from the Cricut Stamping cartridge cut at about 4" and the sentiment is from the same cart, cut at about 3" (sorry, my memory is failing me. I blame my age.) I used both the regular cut and the shadow feature. The design paper is from Super Slab by Rob and Bob Studio (Provocraft) and the adhesive gems are from the dollar store.

And I should add that my husband also bought me flowers and cooked dinner and was just plain awesome. I felt so special!

Win a Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:16:00 +0000

Fellow Cricut crafter Jalisa over at Patches of Pink is celebrating her blogoversary. To commemorate the occasion, she is giving away a Cricut Create a Critter cartridge. If you don't have this cart yet, you should. The images are so cute and you can do a lot with the other accessories and features. Just browse through Jalisa's blog and you'll come across several layouts and cards she has made using the Create a Critter cartridge. I only have about three Create a Critter creations posted so far. But it really is such a fun cart. So what are you waiting for? Head over to Patches of Pink and enter today. The contest is open to both US and Canada and closes on February 28. Good luck!

Happy Retirement Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:19:00 +0000

Yesterday, I met my family for lunch at Red Lobster (yum!) to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday and retirement. I can't believe it's already time for him to retire. As much as he likes to keep busy with work, he really does need time to relax and enjoy the fruits of his labour. Literally. He worked in construction nearly all his life. He even helped build parts of the Canadian National Railway when he was younger. Needless to say, as fit as he is, all that hard labour is starting to take its toll. So I am happy that he can finally relax and hope that enjoys his retirement.

This is the card I made for him using the Cricut Paper Pups cart. The pup is 3" and I used the blackout feature in white and the standard cut in a dark brown. I used a black pen to draw on the eyes since they were way to small to glue on. The example in the manual uses this same cut and added chalk for the spots. I thought it looked so cute that I decided to do the same. I used a light yellow from my Stampin' Up chalk set. The ribbon was from Michael's and the cream base with green shadow base are also from my Stampin' up set. The design paper is from Super Slab by Rob and Bob Studio (Provocraft), the same design paper I used for one of my favourite Baby Shower Cards. I also used my new Scotch ATG tape dispenser to adhere all the mattes. I threw on some bling I found at the dollar store. The sentiment is computer generated and is attached using pop dots that I also found at the dollar store, and I used the same one to attach the puppy.

Simple Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:57:00 +0000

The secretary at my school requested a birthday card for her daughter who was turning 40. She had kept a thank you card I had sent the school last year and liked the colours as well as the flowers so I decided to keep it simple. It was also a busy time with all the craziness that happens during the last week of school before the holidays. And I wasn't feeling so inspired by the colour scheme. In any case, this is how it turned out. The flowers are from the dollar store, the button brads and ribbon are from Michael's and the sentiment is computer generated. Not my favourite, but... oh, well...

My Christmas Gift to Myself: A Scotch Advanced Tape Glider in Pink!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:31:00 +0000

As soon as I saw this on one of Michael's Daily Deals, I knew I had to get my sticky hands on one. I missed out on the daily deal, so I used their 50% coupon towards my first ever advanced tape glider by Scotch. It's so pretty in pink! And 3M will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, too. So it's a win-win situation!

Before I sign off to wrap up some gifts and assemble some greeting cards using my new ATG gun (*squeal*), I just wanted to remind my Canadian readers that my giveaway for $50 worth of Scotch Tape products ends this Thursday. Be sure to get those entries in!

Ornament Christmas Card - CPS 198

noreply@blogger.com (Diana M.) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:25:00 +0000

The last day of school was Friday and I am happy to be on two weeks vacation. Not so happy that my 2-year-old son has had a fever for the last two days but I'm hoping he'll be better tomorrow. In the meantime, I've decided to get back on the card-making wagon and enjoy the ride while it lasts. So here I am entering a challenge for CPS sketch 198. I need to make some cards for the teachers at daycare so I used the ornament cut on the Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge cut at 2 1/4". The ribbon and bling are both from the dollar store and I used a foam dot to pop up the middle ornament. I love the simplicity of this layout and I really like how the jewels make it a little more... merrier.

Here is the sketch:

And here is a close-up of the card: