Halloween Triple Easel Card

The plan was that we would add a satellite TV outlet in the family room so that DH could watch football while I sat in the lounge and watched DWTS.  Unfortunately, the couch in the family room is covered, and I mean COVERED in books that need to be sorted and delivered to Goodwill. So we both watched football.  Fortunately, I was able to play on Design Space at the same time and create a triple easel Halloween card for my eldest DGD.   Here it is!

I followed the tutorial from SplitCoastStampers here, and added three pumpkins sized at 3 inches, 4 inches and 5 inches.  I ungrouped the shadow layer of a pumpkin, and duplicated it.  I used a square to slice away the stalk of the pumpkin and then duplicated the resulting shape.  I flipped the duplicate pumpkin vertically and welded the two stalkless pumpkins together. 

I changed the color of the stalk to green and added a leaf.  I repeated this process with the other two pumpkins.  Then I decided that I needed a carved face on the pumpkins, so sliced in spooky faces from the Pumpkin Carvings cart.   Then I decided that I needed some children in Halloween costumes peeking out besides the pumpkins, so added three characters from the Trick or Treat cart.  Enough!!!!  One last step was to add "Boo" as the stop for the front card.

 Here's the DS file number if you would like to replicate the card.  : )

https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/31290037

The challenge over at BBTB2 this week is to create a project with imaginary characters.   I LOVE what the DT came up with!

The challenge at FCCB is to create a project for a kid.  What a fun idea!   Pop over and take a look at the creative designs.

Thanks for visiting with me today!   : )  Christine

Creepy Critters!

We're in Gig Harbor WA for a few days with DH's Flyfishing Club to do some surf fishing - 'pinks' I think he said.  All I know is that he tied some very sweet little pink and orange flies that he did not appreciate me calling "pretty!" 

While the guys were out, my friend C and I got together for a Craft 'n Chat session assembling these cuuuute little Halloween treat bags from the new Cricut cart 'Creepy Critters.'

I sized the bags to cut at 3 inches when flat - 5.23 wide and 6.1 high per group - and they hold 4 pieces of candy quite comfortably.  In fact, these little bags are so easy to arrange on a page so as not to waste any cardstock and so easy to assemble, that I am sure I will be redecorating them to use for baby showers, wedding showers, birthdays, and for Valentine and Christmas treats.

I added my favorite CTMH stamp on the back - the one that goes perfectly on a 1" scalloped punch!

Well, time to get ready for the potluck.  TTYL!  Thanks for visiting sunny Gig Harbor with me today.  : )  Christine

Playing With a Fall Gap Card!

I love all the 'scene' cards that are out there in blogland, but know that even with my Misti, I could never ever get everything lined up, masked, inked and positioned correctly.  But I can, sorta, kinda create a 'scene' with the Print 'n Cut feature of the Explore!  And here it is:-

I started with a gap card (directions here) and made the gap 2.86 inches wide to allow the 'scene' to peek through. The card stock comes from DCWV Pumpkin Patch and proved to be rather difficult to fold correctly even with the score line.  I had to manually score on top of the line the score tool made.  Ughhh!

It was fun choosing the images to go inside the card and arranging them to make a pleasing scene.  Can you see Katie in there?  

Wouldn't this be fun with the word 'Noel' and a Christmas scene inside?  Or 'Birthday' with cake, balloons and presents inside?

 I used Art Nouveau for the word 'Fall' and Birthday Bash for 'Happy' and 'Y'all!'   The other carts I used are Country Life, Pop Up Neighborhood,  Summer Celebrations, and Pet Shop.  I selected the leaves from the Sesame Street Seasons cart, but there are tons of other leaf images in DS if you do not have this cart.

Here's the file for the card

https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/31000571

and for the card without embellishments

https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/31103598

One last peek at my oh so flat card ready to mail!:-

 Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Back to School

Last week was Back to School week for our local School District and a VERY good time for me to be camping in the RV!  This was Katie's first trip and our friends laughed and told us we sounded like new parents after we delightedly told them that she had stayed in her bed and slept the whole night through!  Of course, I think it was Cocoa's good example, right?

One of the things a teacher must think through is how to manage supplies.  I was thinking about the Master J's little desk and how to organize his pencils when I remembered the candy cane holder from SVG Cuts.  I didn't want any thing so big and gingerbready looking, so off I went into DS looking for a school house with a roof.  I found a very plain one among the images in Classroom - August and September.  I added windows and doors from Sweet Tooth Boxes and the trim is my hard working Falling Water punch.  Here's my box: -

I added the last two apple brads from my collection and the Explore wrote the "Sharpened"  and "Pencils to be Sharpened" labels for the sides.  I could not resist popping a Bird Crazy image behind a window!

I am linking my pencil organizer up with the BBTB2 Back to School Challenge here.  There are some fun projects on the blog!

And to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog here.

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Bird Crazy Halloween!

I was NOT going to jump on the band wagon and buy the Tim Holtz Crazy Birds even though I think they're fabulous!  Nope.  Don't need them.  Haven't even made one card from the blueprint stamps that I HAD to have. (In my defense, I have practiced water-coloring a few of them  Not a pretty sight!) Then, sigh, Mr. H. introduced the accessory stamps and dies and I pushed the 'Buy' button.


Here's my card:-

If you haven't tried a cascading card before, go here for easy peasy directions from Flowerbug.  The trick is to use a nice heavy 'designer' double sided paper AFTER you have practiced with some old, ugly card stock. 

This was a lovely project to work on a little at a time while it was my turn to watch the puppy. (Just to make sure she was not chewing on her stitches.)  I used my Spectrum Aqua watercolors and a small paint brush to pick up the color from an acrylic block.  I love the vampire owl with his fangs and the HP bird with his wand which is really the paint brush stamp with the brush end cut off!  The sweet little bunny bird's tail is the fluffy ball from the end of the Santa hat stamp.

The sentiments were written with my Explore and say "Trick or Tweet!"  "Happy 'Owl'oween!" and  "Flying by with a witchy "Hi!"  Such a fun, fun card to make.

Thanks for visiting with me today.  I'd better go watercolor some more birds!   : ) Christine

Friends!

Just a quick, last minute post to share my project for this weeks Bitten By The Bug 2 challenge "Friendship."

A couple of weeks ago, Master J was reeling off the names of his friends to his mama, and he added at the end, "And Grandma is my friend."   Can we have a collective "Awwww?"   Love that little boy!  Anyway, I wanted to make him something to celebrate all his friends and came up with the idea of photo blocks to which he could add little pictures, including, of course, Grandma!

I made little 2 inch pockets with my Fuse tool and adhered them to the boxes with scor tape.  The font is The Mickey Font and I added the characters since Master J is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse devotee!

Thanks for visiting with me today and please pop back tomorrow to see my blog post for She's a Sassy Lady.  It was the most fun project EVER!  : )  Christine

Aha! Another Gift Card Holder!

O.K.  Maybe I am a little obsessed with all the varied ways crafters have come up with to give gift cards!  Amy, at 'All Things Beautiful' shared an adorable matchbox pop - up card she made for her nephew and of course, I had to try one too!

I needed a couple of holders for my DGD's gift cards and since their bedrooms were restyled over the summer, I decided to match their room themes rather than the usual pencil, notebook, school bus Back to School theme. 

I followed a You Tube video - here - but be warned, read her comments below the video before embarking on the project.  Just sayin' ...   It was really quite easy and such fun adding the pop up embellishments from Design Space.  I haven't used "Back to the Beach" or "Summer in Paris" forever and I hope this qualifies for the "Old School Challenge #79" at the Cut It Up blog.

Here's a look at the pop - up elements: -

Plenty of room for the gift card: -

(It's a prop, Miss G!  I'm not really giving you a movie gift card.  Haha!)

The monograms on the lids come from the new cart 'Monogram Motifs.'  I can see this becoming one of my favorites.   : )   Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

'Minc'ing Christmas

A new box of Anna Griffin Minc goodies arrived in the mail yesterday.  There's foil, glitter paper, extra toner sheets, tons of die cuts, and two toner pens.  Unfortunately, some of the die cuts are not usable because they are badly off center.  : (  Sigh!  I can't decide whether to cancel my auto ship or not.  I guess I'll see how much I can salvage.  I'm hoping to use the pens to 'repair' some of the black patches I sometimes get when foiling.  I'll let you know if that works out or not.

I pulled out my little Minc machine this afternoon and foiled one of the background papers.   Lovely!   Then I was inspired to run the used foil through again over a piece of toner paper to make use of the negative space.  How cool is that!

Next, I tried the glitter paper on the holly leaves.  I ran it through twice and flipped it over between passes.  Look at the leaf in the corner and you'll see that part of the vein line is missing.   I have no idea how that happened but it was probably OE!

Since the puppy was still napping, I tiptoed up to the craft room and assembled this card in about 5 minutes.  Know what?  This is a pretty good card and will work perfectly for several of the non - crafty people on my Christmas list!

Off to play with some more cuts until Katie wakes up and demands to go out.  Shhh!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Fruits of the Summer Shaker Card

I wanted to participate in the BBTB2 'Fruits of the Summer' challenge and make a card to remind me of the wonderful bounty we've gathered, eaten and  preserved this summer.  We've had cherries, blueberries, raspberries, a few gooseberries that the deer graciously left for us, and we're still picking and enjoying strawberries and blackberries.  I brought in the first of the plums today and the apples and pears are ripening nicely.

An aside note - our little flock of chicks are almost fully grown and such fun to watch as they explore the orchard.  They have discovered that apples are yummy and leap up to peck at the lowest growing fruit.  We're quite happy to sacrifice a few apples in exchange for newly laid eggs.  My DD suggested that we name these ladies after Downton Abbey characters and so we have Cora, Violet, Mary, Rose, Sybil, Edith, Daisy and Mrs. Patmore!

On to the card!  I loved this sun image from Summer Celebrations and thought it would be fun to make it into a shaker card.  I cut an extra 'sun' layer from acetate to use as a template to make the shaker pouch from the page protector and it worked!  The Fuse tool slid around the acetate and made a perfect sun shaped pouch.

Then of course, the pouch had to be concealed between the layers of the card and I solved that little problem by slicing a thin sun shape out of the shadow layer and gluing that over the shaker pouch.  Unfortunately, the rays of the sun looked 'wrong' somehow and the Fuse got plugged in again and I traced around the half circle sun shape and cut off the rays.   Much better!

I had to ink the edges of the fruit because although CTMH card stock cuts beautifully, it has that oh so visible white core.  Ughh!

Lastly, I pop dotted the word 'summer' over all the other layers.  Such a fun and challenging card to make and it exactly captures the long, hot summer of 2015 and it's yummy fruit bounty.  I'll have to  make more cards for myself!

Thanks for visiting with me today and please do consider entering your own card in this fun challenge.  : ) Christine

A Bendy Card from Bird

Hello from the sunny PNW where we are longing for rain!  This is Christine from iamcocoasmom.blogspot.com with my latest post for Sheila at She's a Sassy Lady.

One of my favorite 'freeby' sites is Bird's Cards.  She designs amazing cards, freely shares her files and responds with variations on her designs at the request of her followers.  Crafters are the nicest people!

I have been waiting for a chance to cut this file for a "Special Day" bendy card.  Unlike the more elaborate three piece bendy cards available from the Sil store, this card is just one piece with a single top layer.  I needed to resize the card after uploading it to DS so that it would cut on a 12 inch mat.  I made the card 11.1 inches wide and then ungrouped.  After selecting the card, I attached the score lines and changed the color of the top sentiment layer. Easy peasy!  I chose to use the Graphic 45 By the Sea stack and it cut beautifully.

Hmmm!  Lovely, but it's not exactly 'special' enough for my sister's birthday card.  I wanted to add more dimension and so cut a strip of coordinating paper 5 3/4 by 1 inch and scored one end at 1/2 an inch and the other at 1/2 an inch and at 1 inch.  I attached it inside the bendy front:

and after fussy cutting some of my favorite images from the stack, I collaged them to the inside of the card and to the strip.

Much better! I kinda like this shadow box effect.   I tied the card with a twine bow and a compass charm from Tim Holtz and called it done.

Don't forget to pop over to Bird's Cards.  You'll love her inspirational designs.  

This week's theme over at Die Cuttin' Divas is "Nautical" and I love the variety that the DT shared.  Here's another blog you might like to peruse.  : )

Thanks for visiting with me today and thank you Sheila for the opportunity to share.   : ) Christine

Sea Critter Treats

DH is giving Cocoa a haircut and keeping an eye on Katie because she thinks EVERYTHING in the world is a chew toy just for her delight - except the 101 real chew toys that litter the lawns, dog pen and all three levels of the house!

It's time to create the August treats for the children at OHM and I did enjoy making these lollipop covers from SVG Cutting Files.  They have such happy little faces! 

I used my Explore to write the sentiments for the back of the critters since I don't have (or more likely, couldn't find!) appropriate stamps.  The font is Anna Griffin Soiree Lettering and I love how this font is blocked in at this size.  (Note to self for future reference - 24 pt.)

One last picture of those happy little critters enjoying the sunshine on my deck.

Thanks for visiting with me today and please pop back on Wednesday as it's my turn to post on the She's a Sassy Lady blog.   : )  Christine

Art Deco Card

The challenge theme this month at the Craft Warehouse card club was 'Friendship' and I chose to make 5 cards for the card exchange in the category 'Animals are our friends.'  I struggled until I found this stamp in my stash and the whole card flew into my mind.  (It seems to me that I must have seen a similar card somewhere but I cannot track it down. )

The lovely lady comes from the Art Deco cart and the poodle from Suburbia.  Don't they look as though they were meant to be together?  LOL.  I attached a one end of a length of hemp to the lady's hand with a glue dot and attached the other end to the poodle. 

I embossed the cream background panel with the Old Paris Cuttlebug folder and then I inked it lightly with Tea Dye Distressed ink.  For fun, I added 'diamonds' on her finger, shoe and hat as well as on the collar of the poodle. 

I do enjoy seeing how everyone else interprets the challenge and I love bringing home a selection to add to my stash,  Next month's challenge will take some thinking about.  Glad I've got a month!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Happy Summer!

I have spent a lot of time recently on Katie - sitting duty!  Puppy dog baby sitting is not very conducive to creativity, but I found that I could take part in a class by pausing my video whenever SOMEONE showed any sign of needing to go outside.  I have been diligently following the latest offering from Online Card Classes - Background Check - and loving every minute!  I am learning so much about creating backgrounds and just adore the blended ink technique.

You know that I couldn't just leave it at backgrounds, right?  I had a thought about the BBTB2 challenge this week and decided to use my Explore to die cut some watermelon slices and use my TH distress inks on the cuts. 

In the end, I did use colored card stock for everything except the top red layer which was cut from white Neenah and then inked with circular strokes using Abandoned Coral.  Then I blended Festive Berries along the bottom edge, and sprayed the whole thing with Twinkling H2Os (improvising for the suggested Perfect Pearls) mixed with water in a mini mister.  It kinda sorta looks like juicy, juicy watermelon.

 I made the shaped card by duplicating the bottom layer of the slices and welding them together.  I duplicated the resulting shape and flipped it horizontally.  Then I welded the two pieces together.   The melon wedge comes from Preserves and the sentiment is part of the Summer Bag Topper set. As for the inside, in all the reams of patterned paper in my stash, I could only find this one depicting a watermelon.  I obviously need more paper.

I love what the DT did with this challenge.  Pop over here and take a look and thanks for visiting with me today.  Sigh!  Now where did that puppy get to?   : )  Christine

Thank You Gatefold Shutter Card

I love themes and what my DD calls "matchy-matchy" stuff.  Being a Kindergarten teacher allowed me to indulge (some might say, overindulge) in thematic decor, activities and even my clothes and jewelry!  

So, I love the Simon Says Stamp card kits that are delivered to my mailbox every month and could not wait to receive the latest nautical themed kit.   I took it along with me in the RV and used some of the fabulous papers, card stock, stamps and embellishments to create a couple of gatefold shutter thank you cards.  

The star embellishment on the band is from Tim Holtz and is echoed by the star stamp that I used to form the background on the center panel of the card.  The life saver paper, of course, parallels the "You're a lifesaver" sentiment on the front.  

Oh how I loved putting this card together!!!!  One last peek:-

And look who else was out on the sunny deck with me - Cocoa and his new little sister, Katie.  She is quite the character and makes Cocoa look sedate and quite angelic! 

Thanks for visiting with me today and I'll try to rein in the matchy-matchy stuff next time!  : )  Christine

Gatefold Shutter Cards

We had such fun on our camping trip to Montana!  We met up with our friends in Anaconda and hiked, golfed, fished, took a couple of historic tours, and visited the Arts in the Park festival twice.  :  )   M. and I did a lot of catching up on what was happening in our families, talked scrapbooking, cardmaking and the Explore, looked at Pinterest and watched crafting videos together.  Lovely!

We were fascinated with the idea of the Gatefold Shutter card, sometimes called the Magic Eye card, and after several videos we figured it out.   I was able to put the deets into Design Space and cut a thank you card for my DS and DD who fed cats and chickens while we were gone.  (I'll share these when they are delivered!)

Tomorrow is my eldest DD's wedding anniversary and I used my file once I got home - and got the laundry underway - to make a card for L and D.   Here it is closed with the belly band:-

and as the card opens, the shutter mechanism starts to open:-

to reveal the hidden message or image.   How cool is that?

The decorative paper comes from Hobby Lobby.   Yes!   I finally got to visit a Hobby Lobby in Spokane Valley and I was in heaven!   All I can say is that it is well worth the drive. Truly!

A last peek at the card in the late afternoon sun.

Ughh!  Now I see that I bent the corner a little, so pretty please ignore that bit!  Thanks for visiting with me today. : ) Christine

Here's the file if you'd like to make your own card.

https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/29536743



Go here for excellent instructions.   Enjoy!

A Wheelbarrow Full of Flowers

The problem with making Christmas cards in July is that you can't put them on the blog!  So I took a break today and played with a project from SVG Cuts Country Market. 

I LOVE this Vintage Wheelbarrow cut and I made it specifically to fit on a corner shelf in Elsie (the RV) since I haven't figured out a way to keep fresh flowers intact as we travel.   Feel free to spam me with ideas on how to do this, please!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Christmas in July

Our immediate family has a brief interlude between birthdays in July and I usually work on a few Christmas cards in anticipation of my great Pre-Holiday scramble!  Normally they get stashed away to be shared later, but this one can't wait!

I've been seeing Pop Out Book Cards all over Pinterest and I was intrigued because the style reminded me of a card I made for the DGDs a couple of years ago.  That one was kinda cobbled together, and I thought it would be nice to have the real template in Design Space.

A search of the web brought me to Diane's blog and she had a scoring and cutting template already to go!  I was able to recreate the template in DS and am just waiting for her permission to share it with you'all. 


I did find a workaround that made it so much easier to position the score lines.  I created a rectangle to match the distance between the score lines.  (For example, if the score lines are 2 inches apart, then my rectangle would be 2 inches wide.)  I was able to move the score line onto the very edge of the rectangle, center the line and the card vertically and attach.  Voila!  The score line was in exactly the right place.

 Here's how the card insert is folded:-

Then it is adhered along the edges to the card base and the folds well creased.

I chose the characters from "Frozen" to decorate my card since I wanted to hang snowflakes from the top of the card.  I used the Print then Cut function and printed them on good quality white card stock.
The snowflakes are punched from glitter card stock and the stars are Martha Stewart glitter stickers and they are both strung on white thread.  This was the hardest part of the whole card!

I used the Darice snowflake embossing folder on all the white mats and glued sequins in the center of the largest snowflakes.  Gotta have some bling!

I think the recipients (shhhhh!) will like the card.  And I look forward to making more Pop Out Book Cards.   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine