A Castle for Master J

Can you believe Master J is 4 years old?  He loves to play 'pretend' and use his imagination and some days will not answer to his name, but insists, quite vehemently that he is Captain America, a kitty, or even She-Hulk!  So, of course, when asked what he wanted from his Mama and Dada for his birthday, he asked for a "violet castle."

Here's my version - adapted from an SVG Cuts file.  I embossed the side panels with the TH brickwork folder and added extra flags to the turrets.  On the sides I added some characters from the Medieval Fantasy image set using Print then Cut.

 And here's what his very clever Mama made for him!  Isn't that the coolest thing ever?

Thanks for visiting with me today.  Man the battlements and raise the drawbridge!  : )  Christine

That Jennifer McQuire...

She can sell me ANYTHING!  Once I'd watched her video on layering with monochromatic inks, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp2RSg3Oo5s0) I absolutely had to have the Hero Arts July Kit.  My justification was that since I rearranged my clear stamps in Avery Elle folders - as recommended by Jennifer McQuire - I found several gaping holes in my collection including sea creatures.  Hmmmm!   DH didn't buy that either!

Here is the anniversary card for my DD and DSIL; both turtle appreciators.  The card base is 5 inches by 5 inches and I cut an aperture with a hexagon die in the left over embossed paper that I used  for my recent never-ending 50th Wedding Anniversary card.  I backed it with the beautiful pearlised sea green cardstock that came with the kit and stamped the turtles with matching Hero Arts Mermaid ombre ink.  The sentiment comes from a Tim Holtz die and the sequins and hearts also came from the mixture supplied with the kit. 

 

The inner sentiment and, - not being someone who can waste a die cut - the back of the card!

Love, love, love this kit and can't wait to see August's offering.   Thank you Jennifer, and thank YOU for visiting with me on a beautiful PNW Sunday afternoon.  : ) Christine

Never Ending Card for a Special Wedding Anniversary

I haven't felt much like posting on my blog although I have continued to create cards, and boxes and gift holders.  It was just too hard to put my thoughts down. : (   Today, however, is my day on the She's a Sassy Lady blog and I couldn't let that pass without posting the project I had planned to share. 

I love to make Never Ending cards!  They are just so much fun and it seemed to me to be the perfect card for a couple whose love is 'never ending' as they celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Quite an achievement, right? 

The card base is six inches by six inches and I used a textured white cardstock.  Over it I layered white embossed pearlised paper and I used shiny gold mirror board paper for the card embellishments and found that it cut beautifully.  The images come from Heritage, Wedding, Stretch Your Imagination,  Designer's Calendar, Wrap It Up, and Phrases.

I created a 'belly band' to keep the card closed and to carry our personal greetings on the back of the tag.  Of course, I had to custom make an envelope as the card would not fit inside a regular 6x6 envelope!

A one of a kind card for a one of a kind couple. : )  You will find many videos on You Tube for this type of card.  Just search for "Never Ending cards"  Many thanks for visiting with me today.   : ) Christine

I need to add an explanatory personal postscript to my post. Like many other Cricut and Gypsy owners, I owe so much to my Sassy friend, Sheila. I would "Grab a cup of coffee" and follow along as she designed and created her wonderful cards.  I began to create my own designs and shared them on this blog.  I was THRILLED when Sheila approved my request to be a Sassy Designer and share my projects on the She's a Sassy Lady blog.  Sheila and her DT were always so kind and so supportive and I hope I was able to reciprocate.  It's so hard to lose a friend, but Sheila's at peace and no longer in pain.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and to all in the community of crafters whose lives she touched. Rest in peace.

Celebrate the Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!  How cute are these Uncle Sam treat containers!

I saved a pin from a SU rep who had made similar boxes using punches, onto my Cricut board since anything a punch can do, the Explore can do more efficiently and in a variety of sizes!  Master J. and I delivered a bunch of them to the OHM shelter for the children.  He told me, a little wistfully, that he liked giving the candy to the children!  Of course, Grandma had extras waiting at home for her DGS and DGDs.   : )

Enjoy your celebrations and stay safe.   Thanks for visiting with me today.   : ) Christine

Notes to Self on Using the Anna Griffin Fantastic Flip Card Dies

Sooooo, I did succumb to the lure of Anna Griffin on HSN and have to admit that I enjoyed putting together the cards in the kit in as many different ways as I could think of.  However, I really, really wanted to try out the dies that came with the kit and when I finally acquired the extended platform plates for my Big Shot, I was ready to go.

Here's what I learned:-

*  Close your eyes, grit your teeth and ignore the cracking and popping of the plates as you crank the Big Shot sandwich through.    I understand that it does the same in the Cuttlebug.

*  Anna does not include a die that will cut a frame for the opening.  I mean, really?  Plan A - Searching Design Space, I could not find a frame of the same proportions, even among Anna's carts.  On to Plan B - I folded a 4 by 6 inch piece of cardstock and inserted it at the frame end of the die before cranking it through.  This is what's left over when the frame cut is removed.

Unfortunately, the frame cut in two parts but when glued around the opening, I found that it presented a perfect opportunity for embellishment.

And using patterned paper worked well too.

*  Using double sided paper gives a variety of interesting results.  The embellishments that come in the kit are printed on one side only and to my mind, look ugly and unfinished on the inside of the card.  Using double sided paper with the small embellishment dies results in a nicer look inside.  And, because the cardstock is generally thicker, there isn't the need to strengthen the outer edge of the flip fold. (Since this is the edge that holds the embellishments, it needs all the strength it can get!)

*  The smaller dies work with the Sizzix magnetic plate and are held firmly in place for the second, embossing pass.

*  The quality of the dies is not what I expected from Anna Griffin and I reverted to my good old Heartfelt Creations dies and stamps to embellish this card.

*  The more cards I made, the more frustrated I became with the fact that they will not fold flat.   I did try running the folded card through the Big Shot before embellishment, but it wasn't much better.

You know, I think I'll put the dies in my next garage sale and continue to use the Flip cards on the Artfully Sent cart.  Sigh!  Here's a couple of You Tube videos I found particularly useful:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k53icPsCzBM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJqZice8Kqg


Thank you for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

Happy Father's Day!

Yes, I know that was yesterday, but Father's Day sorta snuck up on me this year and I was in panic mode!   Fortunately, Mary at SVG Cuts came to the rescue with some box cards that really wowed the recipients.  This one was for DH and I enjoyed tremendously making it because the technique is very different.  So, watch the tutorial first and do NOT embellish the inserts until they have been glued in place.  No prizes for guessing why I'm passing on this tip!  Now, would it be possible to make this into a jewelry case or a make-up box?  Hmmmm! 

This box card was for my DSIL, long suffering Dada to Master J. I had a piece left over with this one and still have no idea where it goes!

This one was for my DS,  father of our beautiful, well behaved, and always obedient DGDs!  He is a great BBQ chef.  I used Glossy Accents on the six pack bottles to make them look more authentic.  Then, while they were still wet, I absentmindedly put a piece of paper on top of them!  Oh, well!  Two coats of Glossy Accents are better than one right?

Hoping that everyone had a wonderful day and I have every intention of having cards done by the end of May next year!   Thanks for visiting with me today and please pop back on Wednesday for my blog post for Sheila at She's a Sassy Lady.  I'll be sharing my experiences with the Anna Griffin Fabulous Flip Card dies.  : )  Christine

Yellowstone Bears

Here's the little project I took with me to Yellowstone - 24 three inch bears from the Teddy Bear Parade cart all cut out and ready for assembly.

My DGDs and I cut this same Pirate Bear a couple of years ago using the Baby Bug.  Let me tell you that using the Explore was a whole different and much easier experience! 

*  All the pieces arrive on the canvas at the same time rather than having to pick out each piece individually to place on the mat 

*DS colors the images so you can see exactly how each one fits together

*Resizing is a one time adjustment.

He is sooo cute!

I attached a small bag of miniature gummi bears behind each one.  I apologize for the out of focus photo.  While C and I were assembling the bears, our DHs were on a Photography Tour of the park and I haven't been able to recover my usual camera settings. : (   

Here's a picture of a (real!) bear he took on the tour.  C and I took a Wildlife Tour later that week and WE saw two yearling grizzlies AND a momma bear with two cubs so we felt that we won the prize for bear sightings!

Thanks for visiting with me today : ) Christine

Hermoine?

Just two more days before we return home from our camping trip to Yellowstone National Park but yahoo! we have WiFi at the campground here in Twin Falls.
It has been an amazing experience and I have so much admiration for the Park Rangers as they try to balance people's desire to experience all the park has to offer, with their primary charge, the care of the natural wonders and the wildlife.  Sadly, there were a couple of tragedies while we were in the Park.
Today I want to show you a card I made for my DGD who is transitioning from elementary school to middle school in September.
S is a Harry Potter fan and when the Motivation Monday challenge asked for a graduation card using school colors, I immediately thought of this image from Wizard Academy by Pretty Paper Pretty Ribbons.

I was able to reconfigure her arms so that she is holding a wand instead of books.   The sentiment stamps both inside and outside come from Design By Sassy.

Happily, S LOVED her card!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  Back on the road tomorrow : )  Christine

Just Chicken In!

One of my ongoing resolutions is to send more random cards through the mail.   I'm just not good at creating them and getting them mailed.  I myself, love to get snail mail from friends and family.  I should just do it! Right?

Anyway, I made this card for my sister from a sketch.  The border across the bottom of the sketch reminded me of a fence, I had just unmounted this old CTMH stamp set, and eureka! The card was born. 

The scene on the front was created from images from Luau, Country Life, My Community and Hello Kitty Greetings.  I snipped away the cartoonish chicken that came attached to the fence and replaced it with this one from My Community.   Much nicer and she reminds me of Violet who is Numero Uno in my chicken coop!

The inner sentiment was written with the Explore and the font is Chloe.

Now I just need to get it in the mail!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Mr. Incredible Window Card

I called my daughter and asked, "Does DSIL like The Incredibles movie?"  "Well," she replied, "J (my grandson) does!"   Close enough, right?  Here's the birthday card for my DSIL featuring Mr. Incredible because... he is Mr. Incredible!

The base of the card is a window card pioneered many years ago by Sheila, of the She's A Sassy Lady blog using the Gypsy and the Cricut Expression.  Of course, it's much easier to create this type of card using DS and the Explore.  For one thing, the larger screen of my laptop is much easier to the eyes, and secondly, designing on the virtual canvas gives a good feel for the look and size of the finished project. 

Mr. Incredible's shadow layer and the speech bubble layer are welded to the frame of the window card.  This adds stability to the card and it looks 'finished' on the inside.  The window card style requires that the outside design continues on the inside and this makes the card such fun to make and fun to receive.  Here's the innies:-

Happy Birthday D!  Thank you all for visiting with me today  : )  Christine

Stardust Tea Light Birthday Card

It's my day on the She's a Sassy Lady blog and I'm sharing a card that I made for my youngest DGD's recent birthday.

Rarely, rarely, does this happen, but when I received my new stamps from DesignwithSassy, a card  just popped in my head AND it worked out just the way I hoped!  Ta da!

 I needed a simple tent card, so I placed a square on the DS canvas and sized it at 5" by 10" to form the card base.  It would have been easy peasy to add a variety of differently sized stars on the lower half of the card and attach to make the star shaped cut outs.  Unfortunately,  I wanted to use the "Star in Square" image from the Artbooking cart because I like the way the stars fit at the edges!

I discovered that I was unable to use the contour button to hide the outer square and therefore could not 'attach' the image to the front of the card to cut out the stars.  Soooo, the only way I could make it work was to slice a square in the front of the card base and then weld in the "Star in Square" image.  Yes!!!  Then I attached the score line and voila!

To finish the card I glued on the Accented Star from the Home Decor cart and added a square of platinum vellum behind the stars.  I placed a frame around the outside and inside of the stars panel to finish it off neatly.  Inside I attached the Shooting Stars frame from Artbooking and used my MISTI to stamp the inspirational stardust sentiment from the Happy Birthday collection.

A length of silver ribbon and I was done!

It looks so pretty with the tea light placed inside the card, don't you think?  Then, of course, I had to craft a box since an envelope could not contain both the card and tea light!

Thank you for visiting with me today : )  Christine

Cookie Monster Treats

Unfortunately, (and don't get me started!) at this time of year, the schools around here go into high stakes testing mode.   Translation - stressed out children, teachers, principals and administrations.  To try and alleviate matters, the teachers encourage parents and volunteers to provide little extras for the students that they can snack on or drink during breaks. 

This year, I bought little packets of Chips Ahoy cookies and decorated them with a belly band with an encouraging message and a cute little Cookie Monster image from the Sesame Street Font cartridge.

How cute is that?  The band was cut at 7.5 inches wide to allow for plenty of overlap, and Cookie Monster was cut at 1.2 inches high.  I also made a batch for the OHM shelter children.

This was fun and easy peasy little project, but I don't want to see Cookie Monster eyes again for a long time!   Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

Mother's Day Card

Last week, Sheila provided us with a delightful Mother's Day project on the Design With Sassy Facebook group.  I basically followed the template she provided and made a card for my DDIL.

You can see that I added an extra little girl to the silhouette from A Child's Year to represent both my DGDs with their Mom.  The image was SO easy to alter in DS using the 'weld' feature.  Charlotte C. also used the Mother's Day image but substituted a little boy instead of the girl.  Oh the possibilities!
Here's the inside of my card:-

The basic design was so cute that I wanted to try adapting it for another card and chose to make a birthday card for my son.  I used the 'weld' feature again to personalize the card.  The little calendar on the front is free in DS.  So cool!

And the the innies:-

Thanks to Sheila for providing the template and thank YOU  for visiting with me today.   : ) Christine    

Happy Birthday Rob!

Mother's Day Cascade Card

Happy Mother's Day!  We had a delicious brunch at the Golf Club and then took everyone down to view the lot we chose last week for our new house.   We're so conflicted at the idea of moving from our home of 20 years but we know that as we age, taking care of our little slice of heaven will become increasingly more difficult.  Sigh!

Don't you just love the colors I chose for my card for DD # 1?   The pattern paper is from Graphic 45's Secret Garden stack and the toning cardstock comes from American Crafts.   The cascade card file was purchased from Dreaming Tree and is VERY easy to put together and personalize.  


The sentiment is from Scrappy Moms and I embossed it in white.  These dew drops are my favorite embellie right now! 

Hope all you Moms had a wonderful day!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

A Mermaid's Tale

I picked up the Graphics 45 Beneath the Sea stack intending to use it for my DD's birthday card since she loves to be at the beach.  (And really, who doesn't?)   It included a little graphic "I'm Really a Mermaid." which seemed to be the perfect theme for KJ.

The mermaid is adapted from a Make It Now project in Design Space and I cut her abundant hair from russet pearlized paper since my DD's hair is naturally curly and dark red in color.  I added a frame to hide the many layers and pop dots and blinged her out with pearls.

The card is adapted from the Dreaming Tree cascade card file and I love the little pearl slides that secure the sheer ribbon.

It was such fun collaging the surfaces of the card with images from Graphics 45. 

Happy Birthday KJ!   Thank you for visiting with me today : )  Christine