Easter is coming!

What a busy few days!  My sister is here from BC and we have shopped, shopped, and shopped some more!   As we relaxed over a cup of tea yesterday, I showed her the new Design Space software and together we designed this Easter card.  It was fun!

One of the things that I loved about the Gypsy was welding shapes into window cards and I wondered if I could do this with Design Space.  Yes!   Easy peasy lemon squeezy!   And it is much easier to see that the shapes have successfully melded into one piece on the larger screen. 

The daffodils are from Art Nouveau and I chose them so that I could link 'our' card with the Spring Flowers challenge at Bitten By the Bug 2 here. 

Here is the welded card shape:-

And the completed card.   It really is such a pretty, pastel yellow but the shimmery surface made it hard to photograph.

Thanks for visiting with me today.  I really appreciate your comments and interest in my blog.  Thank you!  Lastly, a special shout - out to a friend in Chilliwack!

That 'French Manor' Peacock!

Several years ago, PC launched the Cricut Circle and sent all the members an exclusive cart called 'French Manor.'  THE most popular cut was, without a doubt, this peacock.  It was everywhere!  Now it's my turn to show you my version of  'the peacock.'   (My family will tell you that I'm always a little late to the parade!)

I used the DCWV Shimmer stack and embossed the background to give it an East Indian look.  The center stair step card has been around forever too, but is the perfect card form to use when you want to put special focus on the image.  Wouldn't this card take on a whole different look with brighter background papers?  If I didn't have to put Master J's toys away and clean the bathrooms before my sister comes tomorrow, I'd head right up to the craftroom.  LOL!

The FCCB challenge this week is to feature a bird somewhere on your project.  Go take a look at what the DT came up with.  Love that Art Nouveau hummingbird!

Thanks for visiting with me today!  : ) Christine

Little Canvas Totes

... decorated with iron - on vinyl for a couple of my favorite young ladies!  I FINALLY figured it out after wasting almost all the roll of vinyl and then watching several videos!  (Hopefully, I learned a little something there!)    The lovely font is from the Folk Art Festival cart.

Thanks for visiting with me today!  : )  Christine

Create-a-Critter Easter Treats

Several years ago, DH and I were visiting the Yorkshire Dales (in England) over Spring Break.  It was an absolute visual treat!  Imagine wooly lambs gamboling in every field, love struck pheasants in gorgeous plumage strutting across the roads intent only on the drab female hiding in the opposite verge, and brilliant yellow daffodils in their hundreds lining the road sides - the very embodiment of Spring.  Wonderful! 

Last October, we planted daffodil bulbs along the drive to our house as reminder of our trip (and our birthplace!)  and they are just beginning to open in today's lovely sunshine.

Daffys mean Easter to me and I went to the Craft Room to make treats for OHM.  You just can't go wrong with bunnies and chicks from Create - A - Critter, can you?   I used the writing feature of my Explore to write a 'Easter Blessings' on a tag for the back of the critters.  Love this feature and never need buy another sentiment stamp again.      Ha!  Just kidding! 

Happy Spring and thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

The winds of change...

For the last few years, the winds of change have fairly howled through the Education world and affected even those at the youngest levels.  I could not resist buying this stamp from Verve because it was the mantra I repeated to myself when 'they' insisted on my teaching as though my five year olds were mini high schoolers!

Then, of course, when you've bought the stamp, you have to do something with it and here's my card of encouragement for a former colleague who is in danger of being capsized!   The card comes from Wild Card 2,  and the ship from the San Francisco digital set.  The compass comes from the New England Shore digital set and the mat for the stamp from Elegant Edges.

See how sneaky that Cricut is?  I only own one of these carts but LOVE having access to most of the images in the library through my trial subscription.  I can see an increase in my crafting budget will be necessary!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

By the way, Grandma got a bit sneakier today. Here is what Master J is doing at the moment - he's fast asleep!  : )

St. Patrick's Day card with the Explore

It's a dull, grey rainy day.  (DH and I are going to cheer ourselves up with a run to Costco this afternoon for some retail therapy!)  Trying to take pics of my latest card would be impossible without the light box my DD lent me.   Thank you KJ!

Today, I have been figuring out how to 'attach' with the Design Space software so that my images cut as I have arranged them on the canvas.  If I don't 'attach' then the software puts the images all in the top corner and that, obviously, was not what I wanted!  I also played with the alignment on the X and Y axis to get them lined up.

Inside the card, the Explore used an American Crafts fine point Slick Marker to write the words from the St. Patrick's Day subway art in Word Collage.  The "Lucky Day" cut comes from the Phrases cart.  This was such a fun card to put together!

Today's challenge on the Exploring Cricut and More blog, is called "The Luck of the Irish" and we are asked to include a shamrock.  I guess I did that and more!

The challenge at BBTB2 blog, is a St. Patrick's Day project.  We're all using up our stash of green paper for sure!

Right!  Off to Costco, we go.  Hope you have a lucky day!  Thanks for visiting with me.
     : ) Christine

A Cup O' Cheer for St. Patrick's Day!

I loved this cocoa mug that Susan made for the CARDZ TV Valentine challenge and found it on the Silhouette store AND as an svg from Lori Whitlock.   I wondered if the Explore would cut the svg and so tried to import it into Design Space.   Apart from the funky score lines, it worked!

I love that the software separates out all the layers and allows me to add color so that I can get an idea of how it is going to look when it is put together.

I 'hid' the heart and the center petals in the mat and imported the shamrocks from Celebrate With Flourish.  (I have never been able to cut the left shamrock properly, and the Explore did no better. My 'work around' is to cut the right shamrock again with the card stock reversed so that I can flip the image over when I layer the cut.) So nice to have imported images and Cricut cuts in the same software and cut on the same machine.  Oh the possibilities!

I am linking my mug with the 3D challenge #2 at CARDZ TV.  It seems appropriate! 

Thanks for visiting with me today!   : ) Christine

Spring Wall decor with the Explore!

A year or so ago, I pinned a Spring wall hanging from Cricut Crazy Scrapper.  It had been entered in a BBTB 2 challenge and I loved it!   Unfortunately, I don't have the cart Nate's ABC although I do have Kate's ABC. 

Fast forward to this week and I was delighted to find that Nate's ABC was part of the HSN Design Space subscription.  I placed the images from both Nate and Kate on a 12 x 12 canvas and was able to arrange them to my liking.   It's much easier to do this when the images are colored!  (Sorry, Gypsy girl!)  The software grouped the images on the virtual mats and I went to cutting.  

Kate's ABC is one of my favorite carts because the images are cute without being cartoonish.  KWIM?  I have cut this little lady and her dog a couple of times before and have never made a satisfactory scalloped layer under her hat.  Look what the Explore achieved!  

  

Here's the finished cut: -

I am linking my Wall Art with the BBTB2 Favorite Cartridge challenge here.

It's interesting to see which carts are favorites.     Here's the finished project although I'm not sure if I'll remove the flowers or not.  Guess I'll wait for Spring!  

                      Thanks for visiting with me today. : )  Christine

And one last picture of my DGS who was sitting on my lap throughout the photography process and determined to get some part of himself in the picture!

Birthday Box

DH graciously allowed himself to be persuaded to go golfing so that I could play with my new Explore without being interrupted with foolish questions like, "What would you like for dinner?"
He is so sweet!

I have tons of left over DCWV pattern paper that is partially glittered.  I did not like using it because I always had to take my micro tip scissors to it to complete the cut - even after double cutting!  So, my goal today was to do a project using this cardstock and figure out the setting on the dial.

When I opened up Design Space to look for a box to make for the Exploring Cricut challenge here, I saw the boxes in the new cart, Box It Up and thought I would try the scalloped box.  I did not think that I needed this cart since I have similar carts, but this baby makes large, useable boxes!  (It's now on my list for when my 3 months trial subscription runs out. That Cricut is so sneaky!)

Here's what I learned:

Setting the dial between Fabric and Poster Board ensures a perfect cut of the DCWV cardstock.

I NEED the score tool!

That you CAN move the elements around on the virtual mat before you cut.   This is going to be a huge time saver.

Here's my box.  I love the detailed 'Happy Birthday' cut on the top, don't you?   Thanks for visiting with me today.  I'm off to M's to see if they have the scoring tool in stock!  : ) Christine