Thursday, January 31, 2013

Exploring Cricut - Shamrock Wreath

I have a fun project to share with you today for Exploring Cricut. I have been wanting to make a burlap wreath for quite some time and hope that you will be inspired to make one too:) Sorry if the picture looks a little dark. I took this on my garage door and the lighting just wasn't cooperating.


The process is very simple. Any craft store should have the items necessary. You will begin by weaving the burlap through the wire holes. As you can see, there are 3 different rims and I chose to weave the burlap through all three. I started with the bottom and worked my way up and back down leaving a loop through each layer. You will also be pushing the burlap together after each loop to alleviate any gaps (the wire rim showing through).  Make sure to keep the loops the same dimension and then at the end you can fluff the loops up.



This is the back of the wreath when finished. The ends were all just tucked inside the wire.


I started with about 6-8" burlap tail and once finished I just weaved that through the back so that it would not hang down. I have about 5 to 6 yards left over of the burlap when I completed the wreath. It is surprisingly sturdy and the burlap doesn't really have room to move around.

To create the shamrocks, I laid them out on my Gypsy to select the sizes that I wanted. The foam that I used had adhesive on the back, which allowed me to layer the shamrocks together to give them more height on the wreath.

I used the deep cut blade to cut the foam with the speed being 3, pressure 4, multi cut 2 and blade depth 5. I also placed the foam on the mat right side down because the rollers will leave an indention. So, when using the Gypsy you will need to flip your image so that the roller marks will not be there and your cut will come out correctly.


After adhering the shamrocks together I decided that this wreath would be great for lots of different uses and I wanted the embellishments to be able to come off easily. I cut the stems down and then wrapped the heavy twine around the flowers. I hot glued them together to give more stability. The shamrocks were hot glued onto the flowers and each other. I then took the heavy twine and tied the embellishment to the wreath so that when I am ready to change the look I just snip the twine and save the look for the next time. I did tie the twine through the rim of the wreath in 3 different places. This is very sturdy and hopefully will withstand the elements of outside.

I will warn you that I have heard that burlap doesn't smell so good in the heat. I would suggest, if you have a storm door, to not put this in between the storm and your front door. Rather, if you front porch is covered to just put on the outside of your storm door. Now, of course, this can be easily used inside as well. I think over a mantle would be very pretty as well. Oh, there are so many choices. Maybe, I will need to make more than one of these:)

Recipe:
18" wire wreath
Burlap 2 rolls (10 yards each)
Shamrocks - Paper Doll Dress Up 5.71", 4.53", 2.76"
8 1/2 x 11 foam (2 sheets - 1 glitter and 1 regular; both sticker backs)
3 St. Patrick Flowers
Twine, hot glue

Thanks for stopping by and remember our challenge ends this Saturday:)

Annette

Monday, January 28, 2013

Exploring Cricut - 1,2,3!

Hello! Happy Monday to you all. It is an Exploring Cricut challenge week. The challenge is to create a card, layout or project with 1 embellishment, 2 patterned papers and 3 Cricut cuts

I needed some thank yous for my birthday a couple weeks ago so I decided to create a gate fold. I knew I wanted to use Straight From the Nest for my main image. I rarely use the sample cards in the front of the books, but really liked this style. So, I scaled it down to fit into an A2 envelope and created this one.


I am really pleased at how well my Cricut cut the intricate parts. I would suggest a fairly sticky mat and a newer blade when cutting pieces that have a lot of small items. I think the slider is a different addition on a card and hope to use it again soon.

The pattern papers are subtle, but you can click on the picture to make it larger and see the patterns a little better. I laid my cards out on my Gypsy and they were done very quickly:)

Recipe:
A2 cardbase
Papers - DCWV Garden Party and Bazzill
Slider - Straight From the Nest 1.43"
Sentiment - Cindy Loo 1"
Corner Decorations- Straight From the Nest 1.24"

Thanks for stopping by and hope you decide to join in the fun at Exploring Cricut this week.

Annette

Friday, January 25, 2013

Sketchy Friday #4

Hello Everyone! It's Sketchy Friday and we are already at  SFC #4. Can you believe it! I love working with sketches and this one will not disappoint. You can flip it anyway you choose for your inspiration. If you use an SKdigi you will have more chances to win because you can also enter into the Linky Party at SKdigis. 



Isn't this winter teddy bear so cute! I used a snow pen to add fur on the belly, ears and top of hat. Stickles was added to the stars on the hat and scarf. Glossy Accents was added to the white of the eyes.

Recipe:
A2 cardbase
Papers - Echo Park, K & Company
Sentiment - K. Andrew Designs
Copic markers, Stickles, Snow pen, ribbon, black ink and pen, Glossy Accents

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the awesome work from my DT sisters!

Annette


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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Exploring Cricut - Brrr!

Hello! Time for me to share at Exploring Cricut! I came across this fun idea for a window card from the tutorials at Split Coast Stampers and in keeping with our theme this week decided to create a fun look through the window at this snowman from Joys of the Season.

Now, this card doesn't open as one would expect. In fact, it doesn't open at all. The front of the card is attached to the inside of the card and so when leaving a note you will write on the back, just like a post card.


Here is the window open. 


I started by creating with the red piece (card base) which is 8 1/2" x 5" and then folding in half.  I then added a white piece of cardstock to the inside of the card to place my image. 



The polka dot frame is 4" x 5 1/4". The brown frame was added to the top of the polka dots measuring 3 1/2" x 4 1/2".


Blind is 2 3/8" x 4 7/8" score first at 3/8″, 3/4″, 1 1/2″, 2 1/4″, 3″, 3 3/4″, and 4 1/2″.  Then move the paper over to an 1/8" and score at 1 1/4″, 2″, 2 3/4″, 3 1/2″, and 4 1/4″. After this is done you will then accordion fold you paper and then, using the Crop A Dile, Punch a hole in each end of your window shade sides (keeping it folded as you do so).



The top of the window shade will be adhered to the inside of the card. Once you have done this you can add Score Tape to the sides and attach to the inside of the card.

Make sure when you are adding your ribbon that both ends of the ribbon end at the top of your window. 

Valance measures at 3/4" x 3 1/8" and I used pop dots to adhere this to the window frame. To pull the window shade up and down you will pull both ends of the ribbon at the same time away form your card.

This really was quite simple and I hope I haven't confused you. Sorry I didn't take as many step by step pics.; I got focused on the process and forgot. However, the link above has wonderful step by step pictures to look at if you need some added information.

Recipe:
A2 card base
Papers - Echo Park, American Crafts, Scraps
Snowman - Joys of the Season
Polka dot and brown layers - Plantin Schoolbook
Sentiment - K Andrew Designs
Valance - Fiskars punch
Blue ink, Black ink, Ribbon, Gold and Black Stickles

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget our challenge ends this Saturday and we'd love for you to play along:)


Annette



Monday, January 14, 2013

Exploring Cricut - Baby It's Cold Outside!

Hello! Happy Monday! It's that time again for another Exploring Cricut challenge. Create a card, layout or project with anything to do with winter or snow. Fun, right! 


I created a card with the cute penguin from Simply Charmed. This is a great go to cartridge for different seasonal items. I popped her up and added Stickles too. Her igloo house has Stickles added to it too. Hope you enjoy:)

Recipe:
A2 card base
Paper - Authentique and Scraps
Penguin - Simply Charmed
Igloo - Create A Critter
Sentiment - K. Andrew Designs
Stickles, China Blue Ink, Ribbons, Memento Black Ink

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out my DT sisters and brother for some more awesome winter inspiration:)

Annette

Friday, January 11, 2013

Sketchy Friday #2

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday! Today is Sketchy Friday Challenge #2 at SKdigis. I love working with sketches; just takes all the guess work out. You can use any image of your choice as long as you follow the sketch. Be sure to check out all the details at SFC as well as all my design sisters' creations. They are awesome!


Here is the sketch for this week. I decided to use this sweet piggy (Piggy Holding Lips).


I used pop dots to give her some dimension. I also used some embroidery floss for the tail; just tying some loose knots to give it a little more character.


The edges of both circles  and floral rectangle were inked in black. I used my Silhouette to color/shade the image and then cut out with my machine. The patterns for the lips and hooves were made using the machine too.This machine makes this so much easier. I'm still getting the hang of it, but really enjoying what it can do.

Recipe:
A2 card base
Heart and Floral Paper - K & Co.
Green glitter circle - DCWV Paper
Pig With Lips - SKdigi
Sentiment - My Creative Time
Floss, Ribbon, black ink, corner rounder

I'm so glad you stopped by and hope that you decide to join in the fun. Have a great weekend:)

Annette



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Princess For A Day

Hi! Life has definitely been busy for us and I haven't been able to play in my craft room as much as I would like or come visiting your blogs. I found this card I had made before the Christmas break and thought I would share. I won over at Scrapmaster's Paradise and was so excited because I hadn't played with her stamps yet. They are soooo cute and love how crisp they are. This was a birthday card for a friend in December. Hope you like it:)


Recipe:
A2 cardbase
Papers - Echo Park
Girl, cupcake and sentiment - Scrapmaster's Paradise
Washi tape, Stickles, Copic Markers

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Exploring Cricut Thursday Project

Hi! Well, my kids are back in school today and I have to say the holidays sped by too quickly. It is my turn to share at Exploring Cricut today and I have a "thinking of you" card to show you.


I popped the paisleys up and also hid the cut lines with my gypsy. 


To create the embossed image, I cut a white piece of cardstock the width of the card and ran it through my machine. 

Recipe:
A2 card base
Papers - Scraps
Paisleys - Paisley 1.71", 1.35"
Sentiment - K. Andrew Designs
Stickles, Cuttlebug, Ribbon, Pop Dots

There is still time to enter our challenge and would love to see what you create:) 
Thanks for stopping by!

Annette