Showing posts with label Cricut Expression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricut Expression. Show all posts

Monday, January 22, 2018

2018 Cards: No Stamps Needed. Two Birthdays and a Retirement


While I started my cardmaking journey by stamping, there are so many more paper options now that have great textures and images that I often just use the papers and diecuts in my cards. Don't get me wrong, I will always love my stamps! 

For the Dream Big card ( for my son's 25th birthday which I still can't believe!) I used a paper from the DCWV "Confetti" stack, a diecut I cut using the "Graphically Speaking" cartridge from Cricut, and a foiled transparency from Michaels as my main pieces. 


I cut the "Dream Big" die from gold metallic paper and layered in on a black printed scrap. The card is Onyx metallic Stardreams, layered with the foiled transparency and a panel from the birthday sentiment page of the "Confetti" stack. 


I used the same birthday sentiment paper and the foiled transparency on this Crown Card. 


I layered the crown using the printed paper and a solid pink paper.


Bad lighting I know. I layered a scrap of the transparency on a panel of the pink paper, added a torn scrap and strips of gold scraps. 


You need neither stamps nor a cutting machine though if you want to make cards! For this Retirement card, I simply cut the sentiment out of a page of sentiments in a stack by Craft Smith ( $5 Hot Buy at Michaels!) which coordinated with papers from the "Eclectic" stack by DCWV. I cut the foiled base panel to size and then trimmed and layered the sentiment panel as shown. Finished with oversized self adhesive rhinestones. 

Cards can get expensive. Have you priced them lately?! But between the $5 Hot Buy stacks which Michaels has regularly, 40-50% off coupons and/or sales on stacks at Michaels and JoAnn's, you can easily whip up a LOT of cards for a fraction of the cost. 

Monday, May 19, 2014

Retirement In Style (Not Me...I Wish!)

Enjoy Retirement Card

A friend and colleague of mine is retiring and I wanted to do a little something for her. I’ve had some pieces of fused glass in my stash that I bought at an arts fair. Those things that you pick up but want to save for a special occasion. This qualified!

Black and Bronze Pendant

I made this piece of copper and black glass into a pendant by gluing a flat bail to the back. I strung a bronze crystal bead onto  a silver head pin and added a silver bead cap and added to the pendant. Used a jump ring to attach the pendant to a strand of woven antique silver and copper chain.

Black and Bronze Pendant 1

Used the same bronze beads and silver bead caps to make a matching pair of earrings.

Black and Bronze Earrings

And of course I had to make a card! I’ve been having some fun lately re-discovering what’s in my stash ( Shhhhh Mr. Chocolate…do not need to hear about this thank you very much XXOO). I used some paper from a Basic Grey stack (Scarlet’s Letter) and my Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge (jumbled ENJOY)  and Expression for the card.

Retirement Card

Finished off with some  paper flowers and rhinestone swirls.

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Monday, March 3, 2014

Fashionista Birthday Card : Pink Paislee Secret Crush

Pink Paislee Birthday Card

I made this birthday card for a very stylish friend. Who can’t use a pair of fabulous high heels even if they’re made of paper?

For this card I used:
  • Bordered A-7 card ( Pop Tone)
  • Pink Paislee “Secret Crush” papers
  • Black and White Cardstock
  • Cricut Wall Décor and More cartridge
  • Cricut Expression
  • Ribbon
  • Rhinestones and Liquid Pearls

Start with a pre-scored A-7 card.  I used a white bordered invitation by Pop Tone. Layer with a panel of paper from the Pink Paislee “Secret Crush” collection.

The shoes were cut from black cardstock using the Wall Décor and More cartridge by Cricut and my Cricut Expression.

Wall Decor and More Shoes

I glammed these up with self adhesive rhinestones on the toes and the heels, dots of pink Liquid Pearls and organza ribbon bows.

Pink Paislee and Cricut Card

Finished the card  with a scrap of pink washi tape, wrapping white organza ribbon around the top of the card  and adding a sentiment sticker.

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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

21: Vegas Style Birthday Card

Red White and Black Birthday

My BFF and I have done everything together including getting married and then a few years later, having kids within days of each other. We even went to the same Ob/Gyn and delivered in the same hospital. So 10 days after celebrating my baby’s 21st, it was time to celebrate her baby’s 21st.

Since she’ll be celebrating in Vegas, I wanted the card to match so when I saw dice brads at Impress I had to get them and based the card around them.
Black and White 21

I went with a red / white / black scheme to play off of the roulette wheel. Used Canvas Corp diamond patterned paper , layered with an embossed panel using a Cuttlebug embossing folder with a crown at the top.
Black and White Checker

I used my Cricut Expression to cut the numbers 21 out of the diamond patterned paper and layered them with foam dots ( cut 2 sets for each number) and added some glittered gold paper and ribbon to give the card some glitz.  Layered the dice brads onto black and gold papers and embellished the crown with gold rhinestones.

I hope the birthday girl has a great time!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Anna Griffin and Coco Chanel: Black and White Birthday Card

Anna Griffin Black and White

My first project of the New Year and no surprise, it’s a card. In fact you’ll see a few coming because I have a bunch of January birthdays to celebrate.

First up is a card for a girlfriend who is “crazy for Coco” as in Chanel. Like the style icon ( and yours truly) she is a huge fan of classic black and white (although I added a tiny swatch of pink in here).
Anna Griffin Black and White Papers

While out and about this weekend, I found these gorgeous Anna Griffin papers at a little boutique that surprisingly had a scrapbooking section. On sale even! The paper is reversible with a bolder print on one side and the lighter print on the other.

Black and White Birthday

The card is 5x7 white cardstock, layered with panels of the Anna Griffin papers and a pink patterned scrap from my stash. The black and white polka dot ribbon is American crafts.

Coco Chanel Quote

I computer generated the quote using mixed fonts, printed on white card stock, trimmed, and matted on black paper. Added a little black and white washi tape and rhinestones. 

This card is also a pop up. I’ve never made a pop up card before and what took me so long I don’t know! I cut a crown from the black and white paper using my Cricut Expression and Wall Décor and More Cartridge and just kept the inside simple:

Anna Griffin Black and White Crown

And voila, a card fit for a queen !

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Tree of Life Sympathy Card

Tree of Life Sympathy Cricut

Another Sympathy card. I try to strike a balance recognizing the solemnity of the occasion, celebrating the life of the deceased, and honoring and comforting the living who mourn. This one is for a friend of mine who lost her brother after a long illness.

I decided to use a tree in this card, representing the Tree of Life. My Cricut “Wall Décor and More” cartridge has a great tree image so I used that to cut my image from a neutral cardstock. The cardstock is double sided so I ran another piece of it through my Cuttlebug  using a honeycomb embossing folder.

Tree of Life Sympathy

I layered a gray panel across the middle, adhered the tree, bordered the gray panel with coordinating scrapbook borders and tied a black and white polka dot ribbon around the panel before adhering the embossed panel to the card.

Tree of LIfe Sympathy CLoseup

Finished off the card with different sizes of black self adhesive rhinestones and a brass leaf charm.

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Green Craft: Turn A Cheese Box Into A Gift Box




I recently shared this project over at the Expressions Vinyl blog but wanted to share it here with all of my readers.

I know I'm not the only one who looks at something for its crafty possibilities before recycling or putting it in the trash. I've seen some other crafty peeps use these cheese boxes and had been saving one to play with. 


Laughing Cow Box

I used my box to trace two circles onto the scrapbook paper you see in the background, cut them out and then applied them to the box using Mod Podge. 

While that was drying, I went to work on what would be the focal point of my box. I alternate between my Silhouette Cameo and my Cricut Expression, both of which I love to use to cut vinyl. I used the Cricut for this.

Damask Decor

I used the Damask Décor cartridge and a taupe vinyl scrap and cut out my image ( #30).

Damask 30 Cricut

Here’s the vinyl all cut out and placed on the top of the box. I liked it well enough at that point but never being one to leave anything alone, I went to my embellishment stash and decided on a paper flower and some chocolate colored self adhesive pearls.

Vinyl Embellished Gift Box

The whole thing took maybe an hour and most of that was drying time for the Mod Podge.  Simple, inexpensive, uses what you might already have on hand. Now I just have to finish the gift that is going inside the gift box!

Damask Vinyl Box

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Expressions Vinyl Birthday Giveaway!

Expressions Vinyl Birthday

Expressions Vinyl is celebrating their birthday this week and I was very excited when they contacted me to play with some of their newest products as part of the celebration. I was even MORE excited when they said that one of my readers would get a chance to receive a similar box of goodies of their own.

I couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box when it arrived and they didn’t disappoint with a ginormous selection of their newest vinyls which included some incredible glitters, metallics, reflectives, frosted and even glow in the dark! Some sheets were 12x12 but most were 12x24.

They are also now carrying acrylic tumblers and sent a couple of those to play with along with a tote bag. Here’s some of the fun I had!

Vinyl Tumbler

Mr. Chocolate loves cars, transportation, maps etc. I got the idea to make him a Route 66 tumbler he could use for iced drinks this Summer. I used the Expressions Vinyl in Mist Rainbow and Black and downloaded the sign from the Silhouette online store.

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Not to be left out, College Boy, who is a huge Superhero and Comic geek ( his preferred term!) got a Batman tumbler , images also downloaded from the SIlhouette online store:

Batman Tumbler

I just had decide what to make for me!

Also included in the box of goodies was a re-usable fabric tote bag. We’ve been hanging out at lots of used bookstores lately and in trying to be greener, I try to bring my own bags when I remember.

I got the idea to make a book themed book bag. Since my Cricut Expression has been feeling neglected, I used it to cut the images and used the Wall Décor and More cartridge:
Expressions Vinyl Tote

I’m lazy…didn’t even iron the tote.

For this I used more of the Mist Rainbow vinyl along with two colors of Glitter Ultra Cast: Blue and Mint.

Knowledge Tote

I also cut a key and the word “Knowledge”  ( I’m so corny…get it Books…learning…knowledge is key”.  Go ahead and groan. I did).

And, not content to leave simple enough alone, I freehand cut some layered flowers from drop cloth scraps and embellished them w/ buttons.

This vinyl is so easy to work with and cuts equally nicely on either the Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Expression. Expressions Vinyl is great because they have a settings guide on their website for digital cutters. Even if you don’t have a machine, you can easily draw an image or trace a template on the back and cut by hand.

OK now for the bestest part! 

Expressions is giving one of my readers a chance to win the same box of goodies they sent me ! 2 Tumblers, a tote and a selection of awesome vinyl.  They will have a lot of fun things going on this week so you want to be sure and check out their site and FB page!

The giveaway will run from today, June 18 through June 24 with the winner announced June 25. To enter: 
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good Luck!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Quick Book Page Leaves and Thanksgiving Decor

I first started decorating for Thanksgiving when my son was in pre-school. We were in a store right after Halloween and the Christmas stuff was up and he said “What about Thanksgiving?” and then went on to opine about how Thanksgiving was getting short changed and having a very strong opinion about that. I understood I wasn’t going to hear the end of it if I didn’t decorate especially since "Mr. Too Smart For His Own Good and My Sanity" also pointed out that I had no excuse since I made all that crafty stuff. At. Four. Years. Old.

What’s that got to do with this post? Who knows. I just thought I’d share some of my Thanksgiving décor to which I added some last minute ( like 30 minutes before leaving to go see a movie last minute) easy leaves I made to hang on some curly willow I keep on my mantle.
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I just cut some leaf shapes freehand from some dictionary pages; smudged some distress inks ( Ranger) over them ( actually distressed the paper first, then cut the shapes with a decorative edge scissors) added copper eyelets and twisted some copper wire on.
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This sits in a vase on my mantle that I switch out seasonally. ( Dollar store vase and candlestick) .
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I left the tulle I draped over a table in my living room for Halloween along with a couple of glass pumpkins and added some Thanksgiving accents:
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One of the turkey’s I made over this year
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"Mr. Smarty Pants Four Year Old" is now a Freshman in College and coming home for Thanksgiving in 9 days ( not that I’m counting) so I made a little extra something for his room:
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Cut the pennant shapes old school ( a ruler!) but the rest using my Cricut Expression ( Doodletype and Sentimentals carts) and chose an owl accent since they’re so wise and smart…like a certain former four year old I know.
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