Wedding Invitations - VI

I am back with the final version of the Wedding Invitation Series (although it depends - maybe my brother and his fiance will not like any of them).

Here is the outside of the invitation. I simply put a leaf on one end of twine and glued the twine onto the invitation and wrap it around the invitation. I handed this to my Hubby and he handed it right back and said I don't even know where to start opening this one (he had trouble opening the last invitation). So I am now rethinking the string closures ... who knows how many others would have trouble opening them!

Here is the inside of the invitations. The invitation itself was so simple - that I got to thinking about adding a side pocket and putting the Reception information there. So I put the Reception and Rehersal Dinner information on 'Leaf' cards which could be put into the side pocket. At first cut the 'Leaf' cards out in different fall colors, but thought it looked too busy - so ended up with these.

I mailed all of these invitations out to my Brother and his Fiance this week - so it will be interesting to see which ones they liked and didn't like - or if I need to go back to the drawing board.

Wedding Invitations - V

Here is my fifth attempt at a Wedding Invitation. This invitation has a string closure to it. The closure is pretty easy feature to incorporate - just 2 eyelets, 2 red circles, and some string. I had to laugh when I handed this one to my Hubby, he wasn't too sure how to open the card. He kept thinking that the invitation was supposed to slide out.

The invitation portion is very simple on the inside. I used a touch of red and incorporated some dry embossing of a branch with leaves.

Here is a close-up of the dry embossing.

This dry embossing is fairly simple to do if you have a cuttlebug! I made a 'template' by cutting out 2 branches in heavy kraft paper and glue them together. I then put this 'template' on the invitation where I wanted it embossed and than it thru my cuttlebug. If you would like more details on this see my 'Angle Wings' entry.

Wedding Invitations - IV

Here is take four on the invitation series.

So you can tell I didn't exactly keep with the simple request here. But I already had the monogram made from another project (see aperture card). I think if they liked this card but didn't like the fancy scroll work around the monogram, it could be paired down to a simple circle with the monogram inside.

Wedding Invitations - III

I back with a third Wedding Invitation...

I am trying to keep with the simple request with this invitation! I used some very pretty red paper that has a glittered pattern on it. This red paper could get is expensive so I tried to use it sparingly. I am not too sure if I like this one, but it was fun to try and incorporate this pretty paper.

Wedding Invitations - II

Here is the second invitation that I came up with. I was told to keep the invitations 'Simple' - so here is my take on a simple invitation. I was also told the colors are Red and Champagne and the theme was 'Fall.' This is a 5x7 invitation made from red and champagne cardstock. The falling leaves were designed in Inkscape and cut using the Sure Cuts A Lot program and my Cricut machine. I did use a shimmery brown paper under the leaf cutout to help define them more.

Wedding Invitations - I

I have been working on a few Wedding Invitations this week. My little brother is getting married this fall, and I volunteered to make the invitations. So for the next week I will be posting a different invitation each day - so drop back by to see all of the invitations!



Here is a very simple invitation with a 'fall' theme. The invitation is a 5x7 gate fold card with a red belly band. The outer layer is made from Kraft paper and the inner liner is a cream colored cardstock. I put a shimmery brown cardstock underneath the leaf cutouts to make them pop a little more.

April Calendar

Well I am a little late with the April Calendar ... I have been playing in the garden lately!! Here are my boys out looking for eggs Easter morning. On this layout I used Inkscape and designed the Easter Bunny Flying an Airplane. I took a fine tip marker and simply drew in some details of the plane and around each of the letters in the banner. The letters on the banner were cut out using some 'pinky dies.' After I had everything glued down and in place I drew in some clouds.

Wish my photos of easter morning were better! I found out when your kids wake up with the sun, it is difficult to get enough light for your photos -- and there was no telling them they had to wait until more daylight!!

Well I am off to finish playing my garden - my asparagus and lettuce are ready for harvest!! See-ya

Cri-Kits - embossing pen

If you go to the Cri-Kit.com site - you will see that they are coming out with a new pen for your Cricut machine that will emboss. I LOVE embossing! I am very curious to see what this new tool will be able to do.
I also learned that the Cri-Kits company that they will be at Mesa Convention Center from April 16-17th for the Creating Keepsakes Craft Show.

Egg Cards

Here is a couple of egg shaped cards that I made for Easter. I thought I would share the file in case you wish to make some for Easter! If you would like to have the SVG for this Egg Card, Click Here. I used some gel pens to draw the colors on the eggs. A stamp was used to print out the Happy Easter - and then I just hand cut around the words to make a 'banner'.

Stacked Eggs

Here is a card that I have been playing with for Easter. I thought that I would share the file in a SCAL2 format. If you would like to have this file, Click Here. I have all the colors in 4 different layers so it is easy to use with your pens. I hope everyone has a joyous Easter!

Canary's Capcake

I meet a fellow craft blogger (Bryanna Lenan - the canary's cupcake) the other day, and she gifted me with a box that looked like real cake! Honest to goodness it looked so good I wanted to eat it!! I hate to admit it but it looked better than any cake I could bake. I didn't take a photo of it - now I am thinking that I should have. The 'Frosting' was made from spackle. Run don't walk - and go check out her boxes!

Inside the box were a few bits of odds and ends. So I have been playing with the pieces and came up with a few cards. A little differant type of card than I have done in a while -- but the pieces were so fun to play with -- Thanks Bryanna!!

Moms Club Invitations

Here is my latest project, some invitations to a New Member Tea for the Moms Club I belong to. The card is sized to fit into a business envelope. The yellow flowers are dry embossed from an old brass stencil

CRI-Kits Gel Pen - Winners -

Ok I went to random.org website and used their random number generator to find the winning entries. If you are one of the lucky winners, please email me your address and I will send you your CRI-Kits Gel Pen set!

DogCarbon said...
Very Cool! Thanks for sharing

The Tropical Scrapper said...
how adorable! I already know how I'm going to use the rosette in a future project.

Lori Gartner said...
Love the Card. It's amazing what you come up with using these as well as other things. Thank you.

Jeannie B said...
What a perfect way to use the gel pens.
Beautiful card!
Jeannie B

Stupid Pet Tricks

I just have to share this story ... My 5 year old has a big black google eyed goldfish 'Blackie'. This morning Blackie is nowhere to be seen in his tank. My sons eventually get their Daddy to help find him. Well Hubby reluctantly puts his newspaper down and goes and looks - doesn't see the fish any where. Hubby even starts to pull some of the plants and the fake log out of the water to see better. He doesn't see the fish so he comes into the living room and announces 'The Cat ate the fish!' I am not proud of this - but I start laughing because he looks honest to goodness sad (sorry)! Meanwhile my 5 and 7 year old boys start crying and yelling 'BAD KITY, BAD KITY!' Cat is just sitting here all innocent like. Meanwhile hubby is going to clean up the tank and mess he previously made. He looks down at the fake log that he had taken out of the tank a couple minutes before -- the fish is stuck in one of the holes!! 'Blackie' the google eyed fish is OK!! After being push thru the hole, He looks to be missing a few scales, but is fine. He is back in his tank safe and sound. I wonder if he is thinking he needs to go on a diet??

CRI-Kits Gel Pen - Giveaway -

I am giving away 4 Cri-kits gel pen kits!

Just put a comment on one of the 4 blog entries that were made using gel pens (Carrot box, Carrot Box File , Wedding Invitation, and Aperture Card). I will choose one winner from each blog post - you can add a comment to each one to improve your chances. I will announce the winners next monday - March 29.

Carrot Box File - Score Lines

If you would like to have the template for the Carrot Box in the next post click HERE. The template will be in a SCAL2 format. The reason I am giving the template in a SCAL2 format instead of the usual SVG format -- is that I have found a great way to put score lines on boxes using the SCAL2 'Layers' function!

I don't know about you, but I really HATE cutting scoring lines on my boxes - it just leaves a messy edge on the corner! I have found a great way to 'draw' the score lines onto my boxes. I was so excited when SCAL2 came out with the 'Layers' function, because now I can put the score lines and cut lines on separate layers. I just turn on the 'score lines' layer and insert a pen into the Cricut machine and it draws the score lines onto the paper. Then I turn off the 'score line' layer on turn on the 'cut' layer - then replace the regular cricut blade and cut the box out. I then manually score the lines on the box using the drawn lines as a guide.

TIP: slip a piece of scratch paper under the gel pen when loading and unloading the pens, this is to prevent the ink from accidentally marking your project.

score line draw with CRI-Kits gel pens (left) and the Cricut Markers (right)

I found that I really like to use gel pens to draw these score lines onto my boxes. You can use the Provo Craft Cricut Markers for this job, but I found that the gel pens give you a finer more precise line than the cricut markers. Also -you have to be careful using markers on thin cardstock because the markers will sometimes bled through to the other side of the paper!

Carrot Box

Here is a photo of a Carrot Box that I am making for my son's teachers. I plan on filling the boxes up with some easter candy. I only have 6 carrots to make so it shouldn't take long. Last year I made these boxes for Easter Dinner, I put names on each carrot and set them on each plate. I wish I would have taken a photo of my dinner table it so pretty! I am thinking this year I should make a bunch of carrots to fill a basket to use as the centerpiece of the table.


Here is a close-up of the tag and rosette. There is a really good tutorial on how to make these paper rosettes on the Paper-source.com. Here is the link.

To make the tag I used the LDJ Shop 'til you drop font -and a purple gel pen to draw the 'Happy Easter'.

Wedding Invitations - using gel pens?

I was sent some gel pens by CRI-Kits to try out. I have to say that at first I was kind of hesitant, because the last time I used gel pens was in Jr. High. I guess I was thinking gel pens were for little girls ... gel pens aren't for little girls anymore! After playing around with the pens, I decided that I needed to show that the pens don't have to be childish - but sophisticated. So I challenged myself to make some sophisticated wedding invitations using these gel pens.


I tried out some variations of colors - Black Glitter pen on brown kraft paper, and Silver Glitter pen on black cardstock.


Here is a close-up of the invitation - there is quite a bit of detail in this 'Forget-Me-Not' flower. I was pleased in how well the sketch translated to this project.


If you are curious about the CRI-Kit gel pens, simply go to their website www.CRI-Kits.com. They are having some giveaways for their Grand Opening - Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL2) software, svgcuts.com gift certificates, pen kits, and more. They are also having a contest - the winner is getting a Gypsy and the runner-ups are getting prizes too.

Right now they are offing a FREE penholder to people with any competing product. And a Free penholder to previous Cricut Gelly owners.

One thing that I really liked about these gel pens is the magnet that holds the pens inside the holder. The magnet makes it easy to change colors - you don't need to have a special tool to push the pens outs.

There are 40 colors of pens available. There are 5 differant color packs Regular, Pastel, Metallic, Glitter, and some variegated Swirl pens.

Before I tried out the CRI-Kit gel pens, I looked at some blogs (using another company's gel pens) and many people suggested using the 'Multi-Cut' feature with their gel pens to get a clean line and avoid skipping of the ink - I never have to use this feature, I never noticed any skipping.

Hope that you enjoy the pens as much as I do - and make sure to check out the www.CRI-Kits.com website for all the giveaways!!

Aperture Card

Here is an aperture card that I designed in Inkscape, and cut out in SCAL on my Cricut machine. At first I made a simple aperture with initials (white card). After having the card sit on my desk for a day, I got to thinking that I could 'dress-it-up' a bit and come up with another version (pink card).


I designed some swirls to go around the outside of the aperture. A 'Swirl' CRI-Kit gel pen was used to draw the swirls.


Then I used the 'shadow' function in SCAL2 and cut the swirls out. I also used some foam dots to raise up the design. Some overhead transperency film was used behind the initials to make it less flimsy, and give it a more finished look.


If you would like to learn how to make an aperture card -- check out this tutorial by Dan (Aperture Card). I have to say that I am always impressed by Dan's creations, and I love his tutorials (especially his cool English accent).

Another Bunny

Here is yet another take on the Easter bunny cards. Actually I have about 5-6 more bunny images, but I think that I will end the series of Easter Bunny Cards with this one.

I need to go back outside and get my fingers dirty in my garden!! We are expanding our vegetable garden this year - almost double the size. Last year I ran out of room for all the vegetables I wanted - and ended up planting watermelon next to my shrubs. By the end of summer the Watermelon almost overtook the shrubs (but did it ever taste good). So far I have planted most of my cold crops - cabbage, broccoli, onions, and lettuce. It is so nice outside, 70 degrees and my daffodils and pansy are in full bloom (simply gorgeous)! I hope that everyone takes the time to notice all the spring flowers - have a great weekend.

Bunny Cart

Here is another one of the Easter bunnies I have been working on. Now that I look at this card I am thinking I should fill the cart with some flowers or a Easter chick ...hmm.

Easter bunny

I have been working on a few bunny images for Easter. Here is one of the bunnies with a basket filled with eggs. This bunny was cut out of K&Company paper. Usually I feel the urge to ink, chalk, emboss my die cuts, but I thought with this floral paper it was enough. The card is a 'gate card' with the the scalloped square adhered to just one flap. The Happy Easter is my handwriting - now that I look at the photo it looks like I should have made the 'Easter' word bigger (maybe next card).

If you would like to have this cutfile click here - it is a SCAL2 cutfile. The bunny, basket, and eggs are on separate layers to make it easier to cut them out. Hope that you enjoy the bunny, I would love to see how you use him!!

Chaotic Layout

This is my March calendar page - not sure if I like it, I really debated over posting it!! I think that this is the busiest, most chaotic layout I have ever done. It seems so busy that your eyes can't focus on one thing. I think that I am going to blame it on too much caffine. Hopefully March will go by fast so I don't have to look at it very long in my Kitchen.



About the only thing I liked about the layout is the owl - I ran him through the cuttle bug by the way to put some texture on him. He reminds me of the owl from the old Tootsie Pop commercials!

EDIT:
I had a couple of questions about my layout - so here goes.

1. Papers - The background paper is cream cardstock. The owl is cut from kraft paper. Trees, Leaves, Font and Owl feet are from American Craft paper - I found that this double sided paper cuts VERY well in the Cricut.

2. Spiral - hand drawn, font on spiral is my handwriting.

3. Font - LD Flutter

4. Tree - svg designed by me.

5. Owl - The owl is inspired by Kim Hughes - her website is http://paperhugs.typepad.com/
Kim Hughes has an entire line of stamps that are sold by Cornish Farms - they are all CUTE! An interesting side note - she has started designing for Paper Trey Inc a line of SVG's. So far all she has are cards but hopefully she will start coming out with her characters she has on her stamps.

Birthday

I needed another birthday card this week - and this is what I came up with. I got the sketch from the Card Positioning Systems blog. The 'Cake' is from the Celebrations cartridge. I cut the cake out in a light and dark brown. On the dark brown I used some Diamond Glaze to make it look more like frosting. The cherry is from an old dry embossing Lasting Impressions brass stencil. I am not sure but I think the stamp is from Stampendous.

Scraps

I was cleaning up all of my valentine projects, paper, embellishments and putting them up - I usually have all of my seasonal papers and embellishments out to help inspire me. Anyway, while I was cleaning up the mess I kept thinking how nicely some of the papers and patterns matched - they are all differant companies! So before tossing all the little scraps into the round file I made this card.

I am not sure - but I think one too many trips to the quilt shop with my Mom inspired this card. This weekend I took her to a new quilt shop in a town a couple hrs away, it was find of fun watching her drool over the fabrics, patterns, and quilts. After a couple hours passed by I asked her if she was hungry yet, she replied "Food? How can one think of food at a time like this?" I got her to leave the building only by telling her we had 2 more quilt shops to visit. At lunch she said "You must think I am nuts wanting to stay that long in a quilt shop." Hmm, she has never seen me at Archievers - the nearest one is 4 hours away!!!

Oh yeah -- I quick tip when you sew on a card, make sure you open it first! I didn't do that and so this card is sewn shut, oooops! This one might end up in the trash after all.

St. Patrick's Day

'Top of the morning to ya!' I just finished off this pretty and simple St. Patrick's Day card!

If you would like to have this 3-leaf clover SVG file for your own use -click here.

I just love the ribbon here - it is 100% silk and ties so easily and doesn't add bulk to the envelopes! I can't get enough of this kind of ribbon, I think I bought a couple yards of every color the store had! I purchased the ribbon at my local scrapbook store.

In case you can't read the quote, here it is..

May the Irish hill caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - MOM!!

My Mom's birthday is this week, and this is the card that I made for her. She is into quilts so I picked some pattern paper (K & Company) that reminds me of quilt fabric. This card is made with the Celebrations cartridge - very fast and easy card!! - I think I made this card under 10 minutes.

New House

My little brother and his fiancie are in the process of purchasing a house -I am excited for them. Congrats Seth and Erin! I put together this card for them. I also bought them a couple of books which I will have to mail to them. It really sucks being in a differant state I would like to see their new home, I will have to wait until this summer.


The card is a 'Matchbook' card and opens in the middle. I cut the house out with my Cricut machine using the Joys of the Seasons cartridge (page 50). The embossed brown background is made with a cuttlebug folder. I also took out my sewing machine and sewed around the edges. The welcome tag is made from a Spellbinder Tag die.

Scrapbook -February

I am not a big scrapbooker, I have always prefered the mini albums over the big 12x12 space. But for the last 3 years I have made calendars to put up in my kitchen. I started doing these calendars as a way to make myself do at least one page a month. It is funny over the last three years I confess to having a few 'blank' months - about 2-3 a year. I have to say I like the calendars as a keepsake for the year due to all the scribbled notes in the days, like all the Dr. appointments, valentine partys, and birthdays.


Here is my February calendar. I had this picture taken at JCPennys right before christmas, we had gone in for family christmas cards. I thought it turned out cute! Here is the quote that I used:

Siblings are the people we practice on,
the people who teach us about
fairness and cooperation,
kindness and caring.

Porthole - Wild Card

Are you ready for yet another Cricut 'Wild Card'? I was playing around with the 'Porthole' card on page 55. The top card is my first attempt at the card, pretty simple. For this card I cut out the card in blackout mode in cream cardstock. Next I made my own liner in pink by tracing the outer flap onto pink cardstock (and cutting by hand). Then I cut out the 'Liner' -- the only problem with this liner is that you can't cut it out in blackout mode and I didn't want the window. So to eliminate the window I had to hand cut my own liner too.

The hearts are hand embossed from old Lasting Impressions brass stencils. The leaves are made with a Martha Stewart punch.

By the way I found out that this card will fit into a standard A2 envelope if cut at 5 3/4".



Well I had the top card sitting on my desk for couple days - thinking to myself 'pretty plain'. I have been trying to challenge myself by incorporating more pattern paper, as I generally graduate towards plain cardstock. So this is what I came up with on my second attempt! Quiet fussy, but it is growing on me.

To make the 'Ruffled' edge -- I used pink paper streamers (trimmed down to 1 inch wide). I simply took the paper streamer and ran it thru my sewing machine. I used the biggest stitch I had, and then pulled on the strings to gather and ruffle the streamer - done! I then glued the ruffle onto the inside flap. I also tried to make the inside of the card pretty and conceal the glue and ruffled mess - I cut a plain cream 'Liner' and glued this into the inside flap.

Valentine - Mini Album

Here is a mini album I made for Valentines Day. The hearts came from the Doodlebug Charms cartridge (page 85). I used the Scallop Heart on the very last page.

The words 'I Like You' and 'Wild About You' are from the Wild Card cartridge (pages 71).

Cereal boxes were used to make the album, which I cut with my deep cut blade. I used a paper hole punch to make holes in the side for the rings to hold the album together. I made 2 holes in the side for 2 rings but found later that 1 ring worked better - 1 ring makes page turning easier!

On the cover I pieced a few strips of paper together with my sewing machine. I was trying to be thrifty and use all my scraps. I used a Martha Stewart heart border punch on a few strips to add interest and texture. I made 2 albums and with only 3 sheets of patterned paper!

The other Valentine mini album is going to be giving away as a door prize for my Moms Club. Hope that they like it!

Kids Treats

The is Valentines week - so I had to have so treats for my son's classes. These are what I came up.

Here are some simple treat bags that I filled with M&Ms. I found the cello bags at Hobby Lobby and made a simple rectangle topper and used a pair of scalloped scissors to make an edge for the bottom of the rectangle. The 'Be Mine' and 'Love' are made using a Revolution Die.


Here are some other Valentine Treats that I made for my other son -not sure why I made two differant types this year. These are simple Lolipop covers. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch to get the pretty heart edges. The heart on the covers is cut out from the Bags, Tags and Boxes cartridge.

Bitten by the Bug2 - Heart Challenge

I am excited the Bitten by the Bug2 blog is finally hosting a challenge in which I have the cartridge to play along. So here goes ... is my Wild Card - Heart Challenge card. I cut out the heart first in plain pink paper, then I did a second card using a patterned paper.

I also used my cuttlebug to emboss the big heart as well as the little heart. The tag was made with a cuttlebug die and stamped with a Stampendous 'With Love' stamp. The small purple flower is a dry embossed from a Lasting Impression brass stencil.

Sympathy card - dove

Unfortunately I needed a couple sympathy cards this week. I designed a Dove to use on these sympathy cards, if you would like to have the Dove SVG click Here. I used a regular ballpoint pen to outline the edges to help give the dove some definition.


The first card is pretty straight forward - quick and easy. The green leaf is a Martha Steward punch. For the quote I used 'Someone remembers, someone cares, your name is whispered in someone's prayers.'



For the second card I pulled out my Wild Card cartridge. For this card I used the Swoop (page 42). I was playing around with the size and found that the 4.5 inch would fit into a standard A2 envelope.