Ahoy, Matey!

I finally got around to playing with some of my new goodies from Papertrey Ink’s October 2010 releases. The box had just been sitting there waiting for me to pillage and plunder. Can I just say I am in love with the new color ways–Blueberry Sky and Pinefeather. I ordered the cardstock, satin ribbon, polka dot ribbon, and wool felt in both colors. They are truly yummy! In addition to my stamp picks, I had to order the new die set called “Limitless Layers: 1 3/4″ Circle Collection”. This five piece die set has limitless possibilities and is definitely a must-have. Today’s card project uses the die set and some of the new Blueberry Sky collection.

The basic premise of the “Limitless Layers” set is that you have a 1 3/4″ circle die shape that can be backed by four different decorative circle shaped dies to create tags, badges, buttons of various materials to embellish your craft projects. I chose to use the scalloped punch out die and a piece of American Crafts glitter cardstock in Ocean to create the sentiment badge for my project.

For those that are curious, the Papertrey Ink die line will work with nearly all die-cutting systems (e.g., Sizzix, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, etc.). While I have a Sizzix Big Shot, more times than not I will grab my Cuttlebug to use the dies and they cut wonderfully. The correct “sandwich” recipe for using these dies is: A Plate + C Plate + die + material + B Plate.

For this card, I used the new Papertrey Ink Blueberry Sky cardstock as my base (5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″). The base mat is a piece of Stampin’ Up! textured cardstock in Brilliant Blue (5″ x 3 1/4″). The decorative mat is Die Cuts With A View (DCWV) cardstock from the “All About Boys” stack (4 3/4″ x 2 1/2″). The scallop cut is American Craft glitter cardstock (2 1/8″ diameter). I wasn’t sure if I was going to use a colored circle (Blueberry Sky) or a white circle (Stampin’ Up! Whisper White) to stamp on–so I cut both just to have the option. (NOTE: I used my Zutter 1/2″ Round-It-All to cut the corners off the cardstock base and mats.)

While flipping through the DCWV “All About Boys” stack, I found a page that had a glazed image of a pirate ship on it and it served as the inspiration for the project.

To begin layering my card, I wrapped a piece of the coordinating Papertrey Ink Blueberry Sky satin ribbon around the Brilliant Blue mat and then adhered that layer to my card base. I chose to place the mat on the folded (scored) edge of the card to create a bit of visual interest with the ultimate color layering.

Next, I inked the edges of the pirate ship mat with Tsukineko Memento ink in Danube Blue and adhered it to the ribboned mat layer.

For my sentiment badge, I decided to use the white background and a Stampin’ Up! set called “Pirate Time”. I stamped the skull image using the Memento Danube Blue ink and the captain’s hat using StazOn in Jet Black. I used a Sakura Glaze pen in Black to handwrite the “Ahoy!” sentiment and inked the circle edges with more Danube Blue and a sponge dauber. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to adhere the white layer to my glittered scallop and then attached the badge to the cardfront.

The final touch was another stamped image on the inside of the card. Keeping with the pirate theme, I used a skull map stamp from a Stampin’ Up! set entitled “Beware Pirates” and StazOn Jet Black to finish my card.

Here are a few more close-up images of the finished project:

Pump Up The Volume

All Girl

(To no one’s surprise) I sometimes think there is a fourteen year-old girl trapped in my 44 year-old body. (Wait, that’s sounds really bad doesn’t it?) So last night, I thought I’d try to channel that spirit and do a “girly” card. Now, I have no problem being in touch with my feminine side. But, doing a tween card is something I don’t do on a regular basis. I thought it would be an interesting challenge. I’m not really sure if was a challenge conquered or not. It may be a bit too much…but nonetheless, here’s what I came up with using the new Cricut Lite cartridge ‘Slumber Party’.

* MATERIALS & TOOLS USED: American Crafts decorative cardstock from the “Teen” Collection; Stampin’ Up! cardstock in Cherry Cobbler, Pink Passion, Basic Black; Die Cuts With A View cardstock from the “Shimmer” Collection; Cricut Expression, Cricut Gypsy; Cricut Lit Cartridge “Slumber Party”; Sakura Glaze pen in Black; Imaginisce I-Rock heat tool; Imaginisce Glam Rocks in “Mirror”; Zutter Round-It-All 1/2″ corner tool; Zig Two-Way glue pen; Carl RT-200 trimmer; Scor-Pal;

Gentlemanly

Materials & Tools Used:

Stampin’ Up! cardstock in Early Espresso

SEI decorative pearlized paper from the ‘Windsor’ Collection

Graphic 45 cardstock from ‘A Proper Gentleman’ Collection

Pink Paislee decorative paper from the ‘Queen Bee’ Collection

Stampin’ Up! 1/8″ taffeta ribbon in Early Espresso

Kaiser Craft adhesive half pearls in Oyster Black

Sakura Glaze Pen in Black

Papertrey Ink Vintage Touch ink in Chai

Tim Holtz Nostalgia Tissue Tape

3M ATG 714 adhesive

Carl RT-200 paper trimmer

Stampin’ Up! ticket corner punch

Scor-Pal

Tim Holtz non-stick micro-serrated scissors

Recently On My Desk…(#4)

Let Them Have Cake…

I have (another) confession to make. Well, actually, I have several confessions to make. My new set of Cricut cartridges (Cindy Loo, Mini Monsters, Freshly Picked, and Wall Decor & More) should be delivered on Thursday. That will bring my cartridge total to cxxxviii. (LOL!). For you non-Romans, that would be…uhm…138.

Then, I just realized that the sneak peak pre-order for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators for items from the forthcoming new catalog started on 06/01. I’ve revised my list about four times already and it is still hitting around $250-$350 depending on the revision. So, I’m arguing with myself (and losing), but I should have my list ready to order tomorrow.

Between K & Company and Basic Grey, I’ve been buying new paper collections like a madman. Then I found some really cute acrylic stamps….and well… Tim Holtz’s new texture fade embossing folders were finally released and I had to have all of them. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need to buy a new house–to use as a craft room. I kid. I think. But, never let it be said that I’m not doing my part to stimulate the economy (and every cash register and on-line retailer I get near).

Which leads me to another confession. I don’t really bake that much. I love breads and cupcakes and brownies…and such. I love to eat them even more. But, I rarely bake a cake. I guess being single is part of the reason I don’t. Okay, and maybe the fact that I’m too lazy plays in there too. But, that’s an entirely different can of worms. So, I don’t make cakes–or rarely. But, I convinced myself that even though I wouldn’t be interested in the Cricut Cake, I really should have the Cake cartridges to use with my Expression. So, I bought Elegant Cakes, Cake Basics, Holiday Cakes, Birthday Cakes. (Don’t judge. It made sense at the time.)

I have to say there are some really great images–especially if you love creating borders, patterns, and ornate designs in your cards and layouts. Thus far, the only cartridge I’ve played with is ‘Elegant Cakes’ (mainly because I’m so enamoured of the designs on it I haven’t stopped playing with this one on my Gypsy).

The birthday card I’m sharing with you today was made with the ‘Elegant Cakes’ cartridge. Both the floral scroll and sentiment come from that cartridge. I used Stampin’ Up! cardstock in Glorious Green and Certainly Celery to layer the die-cuts. The decorative mat is from Basic Grey’s new fabulous collection, ‘Capella’. The base cardstock in Stardream So…Silk! in Fair Blue. I used a Zig Two-Way Glue Pen to put it together and a Sakura Stardust Clear Glitter pen to highlight it. The result is a lot of card (from a design and visual perspective), but I think it works.

Celebrate Every Day

Here’s a card project that was put together with some odd scraps; Scraps that really shouldn’t have worked together, but somehow do. I have to confess that I am not a scrap keeper (*hangs head in shame*). I will say that I’ve become much better about it over time, but I still find it hard sometimes to keep small pieces of scrap papers or cut down larger pieces that have been die-cut or used in another method. Then when I do save scraps, often times I “forget” to use them. Part of it is sheer laziness on my part. Another factor is that I have enough paper to redecorate my entire city (several times over). But, in an effort to be more Green, I’ve been making an effort. I’m currently keeping most of my scrap in a clear acrylic Scraponizer storage box. It makes them easy to see–and easy to grab from the shelf.

This card uses a piece of Stardream So…Silk! cardstock in Beauty Pink as its base (5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″). The mat is a piece of decorative paper from Three Bugs In A Rug Spring Stack. The die-cut image was cut with my Making Memories Slice at 4″ from the “Think Pink” card. I cut the image twice–once in a dark cardstock as a base cut and then again with a scrap piece of Basic Grey decorative paper from the “Eskimo Kisses” collection. The sentiment is a Papertrey Ink clear acrylic stamp (“Mega Mixed Messages”) stamped in their Scarlet Jewel hybrid ink. A Heidi Swapp pink jewel floral center and an outline of Sakura Clear Star Glitter pen add just the right amount of bling to the look.

Don’t forget that Giveaway #8 ends this weekend. If you haven’t already entered for a chance to win, check out the link in the sidebar (and feel free to tell a friend).

Straight From The Nest (Almost Literally)

In yesterday’s mail, I received my copy of one of the newest ProvoCraft Cricut cartridge releases–‘Straight From The Nest’. This cartridge was designed by artists from the 3 Birds craft company and is currently an exclusive to the Home Shopping Network (HSN). It is not clear yet if this title will receive a wider release at some point–or if it will remain exclusive to HSN (who sells the 3 Birds line). The cartridge features many images of birds, flowers, plant life, flourishes and a few party themed cuts. While some may find some of the artwork repetitive (when comparing this cartridge to some other recent releases), I have to say that there is something rather whimsical and fantastical to how the images were realized. The artwork is less realistic and more animated in look and tone. The cartridge also features a couple of interesting creative features such as “corners” and “sliders”. I, personally, am glad to add it to my collection (though since I am a completist collector, that may not be as significant).

So after registering my cartridge and redeeming my Cricut Rewards certification, I immediately loaded the cartridge on to my Gypsy and started playing with several of the images. I really didn’t have the intention of making a card right then and there, but who needs beauty sleep? (Two words: under-eye concealer.) This is really a quick and fast card–and quite frankly not one of my best. But, I had to do something with the cartridge before I let myself consider the pillow.

Here’s a quick screen grab of my Gypsy virtual mat and the selections I chose to use in this card project. One of the neatest pluses to owning a Gypsy (in my humble opinion) is being able to see exactly where everything is going to lay out on your cutting mat and what size of paper(s) you will need to make the corresponding cuts. This makes it super easy to layout your entire project on one mat and cut everything in the same pass.

The image that caught my eye from the get-go was the nest and eggs pictured on the box cover. So I knew that had to be the focal point. I peeked around the images and found a simple piece of greenery and a cute sentiment that I thought would work and cut them out in a flash with my trusty green Cricut Expression. I also chose to use the shadow cut on the nest and sentiment.

The materials list for this project is as follows:

* PAPER: Stampin’ Up! cardstocks in Kiwi Kiss, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise; Stardream Fuse Mica cardstock in Lapis;

* TOOLS: Cricut Expression, Cricut Cartridge ‘Straight From The Nest’, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug ‘Moroccan Screen’ embossing folder;

* ADHESIVES: Zig Two-Way glue pen, Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Dimensionals;

* EMBELLISHMENT: Maya Road “birdie” frosted acrylic sheer die-cut, Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Write Markers, Sakura clear glitter pen;

I thought the piece of embossed mica cardstock helped the sentiment pop on the cardface. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals under the sentiment shadow cut. I “tried” to jazz up the nest a bit with some color markings…the jury is still out on this one. On the eggs, I used a Stampin’ Write marker in Bordering Blue to add a speckled effect and slight blue hue to the egg shells. Unfortunately, this effect does not photograph well. I also decided the Kiwi Kiss color was too light on the greenery and went over it with a marker (hence the color change from cut to finished product). The bird was an afterthought, but I thought he made a nice addition (and don’t ask me how I know he’s a boy, lol). Like I said, it’s not one of my best, but I hope it gives you an idea of some of the cute projects you can make with this cartridge. I’ll feature some more projects with this cartridge in the coming days.

I’ll never be accused of being a “quiet” person. However, this post seems almost too “talky”. But if you hung in there with me and read the whole thing, I thank you and leave you with a couple of random notes. Have a great Thursday…and if you haven’t entered Giveaway #4 (see sidebar), time is running out.

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RANDOM NOTES:

01. Today is “Hello, Thursday!” on Cricut.com. We should see the unveiling of a new slate of cartridge releases in the upcoming weeks.

02. I posted about this on the Cricut Message Boards, but in case you didn’t see it–or don’t haunt them–I found the names of a few upcoming cartridges (some of which may in fact appear later today). They are: ‘Birthday Cakes’, ‘Create A Critter’, ‘Elegant Cakes’, ‘Holiday Cakes’, ‘Independence Day (Seasonal)’, ‘Summer Vacation (Seasonal)’, ‘Summer In Paris (Seasonal)’, ‘Robotz’, and ‘Nursery Rhymes’.

03. Last week, I purchased a boatload of Stampin’ Up! cardstock. This week, I ordered more paper from DCWV and California Paper Goods. It’s a sickness! There is no immunity!

04. For those of you that watch AI, am I the only one that actually misses Alex Lambert? Though I really do like Lee Dewyze.

05. Keep Crafting!

Monkey Love

This is a quick and easy card made predominantly of Stampin’ Up! supplies. I am in absolute love with this monkey stamp. He is too cute for words!

The base of the card is Stampin’ Up! cardstock in ‘Soft Suede’. The bottom mat is Stampin’ Up! ‘Kraft’. The images were stamped on ‘Whisper White’ cardstock. The edges of the white mat were puched using an EK Success Postage Stamp Edge punch and inked with Chai tea stain.

The monkey stamp is from the Stampin’ Up! clear mount set ‘Fox & Friends’ (#118565, $14.95). The heart stamp is from ‘I {Heart} Hearts’ (#118571, $18.95). They were stamped in a random pattern using Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip Classic ink. I also used a piece of Stampin’ Up! 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip as a matching embellishment. A bit of Sakura Stardust clear glitter pen accents the outline of the white mat.

Happy Thursday…and I hope your day includes a little bit of monkeyin’ around!

Destinations Décor

Recently, I added the Cricut ‘Destinations’ cartridge to my ever-growing library. Currently, this cartridge is an exclusive early release to HSN (available in a Gypsy bundle or as a separate purchase). It should be available in mass retail in December 2009.

I knew when I first heard about this release, it was going to be a ‘must-have’ for me. (But then again, aren’t they all?) I’ve always loved the history and romance of old steamer trunks, valises, and portmanteaus covered with vintage labels/stickers from varied destinations and travels around the world. From the artwork, color combinations, landmarks, and world languages, they have always inspired and fascinated me. This cartridge takes that concept and gives it a modern twist. Covering locales and landmarks around the world–and cities in the United States–‘Destinations’ is a must for those with wanderlust and travel in their souls.

After glancing at some of the images, I was inspired to create a piece of home décor alteration. I’ve had a reproduction black steamer chest around my home for many years. It’s served as an endtable, a book case, and numerous other functions in rooms around my house. I’ve decided to take it and decoupage it with 4″ labels from landmarks around the world. While it will be a project in stages and over time, I thought I would show you two of the labels I created that will find their way onto the finished project as an introduction to ‘Destinations’.

The first cut I made represents Rio de Janeiro (“River of January”), Brasil and features a depiction of its iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. I chose to cut all the pieces out of white corduroy-textured Bazzill cardstock with my Cricut Gypsy and Expression, then color them with my Copic Sketch markers, and finally, adhere their layers with Zig 2-way Glue and Sakura Quickie pens.

Using the Brasilian flag as inspiration for my color combinations, this is what my finished label looked like:

The second locale I “visited” was Moscow, Russia and its magnificent St. Basil’s Cathedral (The Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat). Here are the cuts for this project:

For this label, I had two inspirations for the color scheme. The first was Stravinsky’s ‘The Firebird’ (reds and oranges of flames) and van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ (blues, whites, and blacks of the night sky).

So two down, only several dozen to go…lol. Hopefully, I’ll keep you updated on this project as the steamer trunk gets a facelift. In the mean time, I strongly recommend you give ‘Destinations’ a “trip”…

Keep Crafting!