Layered Butterfly Mother's Day Cards With Cricut

 

Things settled down enough on my end to be able to work on some Mother's Day cards for family and friends. I'd had fun with my Layered Easter Egg cards so I decided to keep it simple and use the same approach to these, creating three layers in Cricut Design Space and then attach them using foam squares. 

Supplies: 

• Recollections 110lb Cardstock ( Michaels ) 
• Coordinating Paper ( Michaels ) 
• Foam Dots / Squares
• Self Adhesive Rhinestones 

Since Michaels enables me with their regular sales of their Hot Buy paper pads ( seriously, they could make me their ambassador for just these!) I gathered up some coordinating stacks. I decided on two color palettes. One pinks and lavenders and the other turquoise and white. 

I cut my own cards because I like them heavier than most of the pre-cut card packs since I tend towards heavier cards. This is why the Recollections 110lb Cardstock is my go to. Cuts clean and stands up to the weight of my cards. 

Using the Cricut Design Space software, I chose a plain Butterfly image then created two additional layers, adding ovals and circles. 

I cut each layer with the top layer being cut from the glitter cardstock. 

For the cards, I cut the cardstock 7x10 then scored, cut the panels and assembled the butterflies using foam squares. 

I kept these simple because the papers are pretty enough to speak for themselves. To finish, I cut a bunch of small flowers from white shimmer paper and layered with a foam square and curled up the top layer's edges. 

To finish, I added self adhesive rhinestones in the layered openings. Et, voila! 

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Papercrafting: Layered Egg Easter Cards

 

I will singlehandedly keep the Post Office in business because as much as I love and use technology, I will always make and send handmade cards. And since no matter how hard I try, I can't make cards that only require basic stamps, I'm their best customer!  

I had fun with my newfound knowledge of creating layered files in Cricut Design Space and did a series of layered Easter Eggs in a pastel palette. 

Supplies: 

• Let's Wander Paper Stack ( Michaels ) 
• Ethereal Gradients Stack (Michaels) 
• Pastel Glitter Stack ( Michaels ) 
• White Cardstock (Michaels)
• Foam Tape
• Tape Runner

I will also singlehandedly acquire every Michaels Hot Buy Paper Stack which, did I mention...are buy one get two free this week? 

Since all of the papers complemented each other, it was easy to play with different combinations. I ended up doing some in blues/turquoise, pinks and lavenders, and yellows/oranges/green. 

I cut the top layers of each using the glitter paper, layering using foam tape on either one or two layers of coordinating plain paper. 

For this one I used two layers of glitter paper. 

I had some paper butterflies in my embellishments stash but I didn't have enough so I made some more by cutting them on my Explore Air 2 and adding self adhesive pearls to match the original!

The Post Office employees hide when they see me coming! WHAT is she mailing now?! 

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Cardmaking: Easy Card No Fancy Tools

 

This week's link party continues here!

As I've written before, I love my amazing crafting tools like my Cricut Explore Air2. But sometimes I also love the simplicity of making something that doesn't require tools.  Here's how you can make an easy card with just some pretty papers and a few basics. 

Supplies: 

• Scrapbook Papers (I used the Let's Wander Stack by Recollections from Michaels) and some paper scraps from previous projects. 
• Cardstock. I used 110lb Cardstock, Recollections, Michaels
• Stickers. I used one sticker from a pack by Crafter's Square from Dollar Tree
• Embellishments. Crafter's Square, Dollar Tree. 
• Double sided adhesive or tape runner
• Paper Trimmer or craft knife
• Scoreboard / bone folder or if you don't have, you can use an empty ball point pen

First, choose your papers and what you want to use for your card's focal. Stickers are great for this, especially those on clear backgrounds. I found these at The Dollar Tree and for $1 you can make multiple cards. 

Trim your cardstock to 7x10 inches then score in the middle at 5 inches. I use a scoreboard for my cards but you can easily place your cardstock on a magazine , use a ruler as a guide, and use an empty ballpoint pen or something else pointed enough to score your fold but not cut. 

To make the focal for your card, place the sticker you've chosen on a piece of cardstock then trim it to size. If you don't have a paper trimmer, again a ruler and a craft / utility knife and easy peasy. 

Cut the main decorative paper you've chosen to 4.75x6.75 (I used a pink swirly sheet) then mat your trimmed sticker focal on another piece of the same paper and mat with a solid ( I used a scrap of black cardstock). 

Since I've been at this a while, I have a TON of paper scraps from other projects but if this is the first card you're making, choose some coordinating sheets from the paper stack and play around. I grabbed some of my scraps and cut to sizes that worked with my trimmed focal. 

Assemble. Hint: I always assemble my layers before I attach to the card itself. So in this case, I put my matted focal on top of the scrap with the bows on it, then attached to the silver dotted paper, and finally on the pink swirl background. Then attach to your card. 

I always like to finish with some bling or some dots of glitter glue etc. In this case, I used a sheet of rhinestone embellishments by Crafter's Square from The Dollar Tree. They are really expanding their line of crafting materials and you can't beat the price! 

Lots of cards to make with all of those rhinestones! Most of the teardrop shaped ones have the little round ones attached. I used these for the bigger bows. For the smaller bows, just dotted with some other smaller rhinestones in my stash. This part is completely optional. 

But see? Easy, no fancy tools, and when you can get a beautiful stack of papers like the ones in this Let's Wander pack (currently on sale at Michaels 70% off!) then you don't have to spend a lot to make some pretty things! 

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DIY Jewelry: GROGU (The Mandalorian) Inspired Bracelet

 

I have watched both seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, and like so many others, am totally smitten by the character named GROGU aka "The Child" aka "Baby Yoda" . If you're not familiar he's the same type of being as Yoda ( whom I also love ) but is not in fact the baby version of him. 

While going through my bead stash, I remembered I had some Kiwi Jasper beads that were PERFECT for a GROGU inspired project.  This is an easy bracelet to make using stretch cord. 

Mr. Chocolate surprised me with one of the animated toys as one of my Christmas gifts. They were almost impossible to find but he did and he is so cute. Our dog loves it when I activate him and just cocks her head at all of his movements and sounds.  I gathered up the supplies I thought I'd use and I ended up not using the white beads. No worries. They'll get put to good use! 

Supplies: 

• Stretch Magic Bead & Jewelry Cord 1mm ( Michaels)
• 10mm Kiwi Sesame Jasper (Shipwreck Beads...no longer on their site but Etsy, Amazon have)
• 10mm Matte Black Glass Beads (Michaels)
• 10mm Silver Beads (Michaels) 
• Bead Landing Rhinestone Dangles ( Michaels)
• Charm Along Metal Tags (Michaels)
• Loctite Gel Control Glue
• Head Pins and Jump Rings

Since I tend to make bolder jewelry, I like the thickness of the 1mm Stretch Magic cord. If you're using smaller beads you can use thinner versions. 

I like to spread the beads I'm working with out so I can easily grab them and a piece of felt works great to keep them from rolling away. 

Cut a length of the Stretch Magic a few inches longer than the finished bracelet size. Some people try to measure exactly which maximizes your cord, but I like ends long enough to not cause me to swear when I'm trying to tie the knot and things go wrong and beads go everywhere, which may or may not have happened one too many times. 

I bought these clamps at Dollar Tree forever ago and they work great for clamping one end so you don't have beads to chase. 

Measure your bracelet once you have your beads on. I know from experience 7.5 is the right length for me. Tie with a basic knot. Dab a little Loctite or jewelry glue onto the knot, then tie another knot and trim. 

I usually add a little dangle on my bracelets, especially when I'm giving as a gift, and especially since I found some cute charms that say things like "Made With Love" "Handmade" etc. I also love these little rhinestone dangles to add just a touch of bling. 

To create the bead dangle, thread one of the jasper beads and one of the silver beads onto a head pin and close with a wrapped loop. 

Then, attach your tag, rhinestone, and bead dangle onto your bracelet using jump rings. 

I love how the jasper represents GROGU, the black beads his eyes, and the silver is for Beskar, the elite armor worn by worthy Mandalorians. Geek Alert! 

This is the way !

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DIY Jewelry: But First Coffee Earrings

 

As a Seattle girl originally, I am an "OG" Starbucks customer. I'm talking from the days when there wasn't one on every street corner, in every mall or grocery store or Target. And my drink has always been a Mocha. Hot, usually iced, always a Mocha. While I make my iced Mochas every morning at home and most evenings as well, Mr. Chocolate knows that if we're out...there's a stop involved. I live for the mobile app which has been my lifeline during this pandemic! So when I found some coffee themed charms at JoAnn, it was a no brainer that I was getting them! 

These instructions are the same for clip earrings or pierced with the only change being using an earwire instead of the clip bases. 

Supplies: 

• hildie & jo charms (JoAnn)
• Clip earring backs ( Michaels
• Clip earring "base" (eg something to cover the backs... had these in my stash)
• Jump rings (Michaels and Jo Ann)
• Connector Links 
• Jewelry Pliers
• Glue ( I use Loctite Gel Control Super Glue)

If you're making clips, the first step is to glue the clip back to the base with a good drop of the Loctite Glue. I like this because it's thicker and doesn't run. Use clamps or clothespins to secure and let dry while you assemble the other pieces. If you're making pierced earrings, see below for when to attach the earwire. 

I chose to go with these two charms and make a par of asymmetrical earrings. The bolder jump rings on the right (also hildie & jo) I had in my stash and used to connect the larger connector links shown at the bottom. I used three connector links for each earring. 

To connect the connector links, open one of the jump rings, thread all three onto it, close. Repeat for the other earring. Add another jump ring to each set of now joined links. 

Repeat the same process to attach the charms. 

If you're making pierced, at this point use one more jump ring to attach an earwire. For clip earrings, attach a jump ring to your completed clip base and use one more to attach the body of your earring. 

This is an easy process to whip up a pair of earrings that can be worn with anything! 

and Iced Mochas too ! 

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Tutorial: My New Granddog and How to Make a Layered Monogram in Cricut Design Space

 

My son is almost done with his PhD and is focused on writing his dissertation. He's wanted a dog since he left for undergrad, and the timing was finally right for him to adopt and he found the cutest 8 month old shelter pup and is in total love! Of course being a Maker and a Mom, that meant I was going to make him something special, and I'm so happy with how this turned out. 

Now that I too have more time since I retired last year, I've been focused on growing my skills and learning new things.  I'm totally obsessed with layered cut files like the ones I've shared from Maggie Rose. I will have a couple more projects coming using her designs. And there are soooo many talented people out there making these, but since childhood, I've been one of those people who wants to know how to do things myself as well! I watched some You Tube videos and read some tutorials, but my brain works how it works ( ask Mr. Chocolate) and I had to figure out what made sense to me. In the event that your brain works like mine ( I'm sorry!) hope the tutorial in this post is helpful. 

First things first. Meet "Spinach Boy". The shelter was on a vegetable name kick and that's what they named him when they took him in. Poor guy was sick and sad but he's fully healthy now. PhD son wasn't sure he was going to keep the name but when they finally met he felt it suited him. He's calling him "Spinny" but his official name remains Spinach Boy. 

The "S" monogram can also work for "Socks" since he has a thing for them! Now for my attempt at a tutorial which I hope makes sense. Also on my list is making videos so look for one of those in the future. Since I haven't mastered creating an exportable SVG file yet, these instructions are specific to Cricut Design Space. 

Supplies: 

• Three sheets of scrapbook paper (I used a glitter sheet, a plain sheet, and a textured sheet) for Monogram
• One sheet of scrapbook paper for background ("Let's Wander" paper stack by Recollections, Michaels)
• Cricut Cutting Machine (eg. Explore Air, Maker, Joy.  I used my Explore Air2)
• Foam Squares or small dots
• Shadowbox Frame (I used a 12x12 frame) 

Both because of the name and because my son is also into plants, I went with a green palette with silver accents. Silver for the base, solid green for the middle layer, and textured green for the top layer.

Layer One: 

The first layer you'll create is your base layer. For this tutorial we'll call this the "Weld" layer since you're adding a shape to the letter and you want to create one piece for cutting. 

• Open Design Space (this tutorial assumes basic familiarity with the software) 
• Upload or Select Text to generate the letter you want to work with. 
• Size as appropriate
• I matched my colors to the color papers I chose because it made it easier for my brain to remember what was needed for each layer
• On the left side of the Design Space window, look for Shapes. Click on, select the shape you want to add. You can see I chose a star. 
• Size the image as appropriate and using your mouse, place where you want it on your letter
• What I did learn from one video is making use of the right hand tool bar. This is where you will see the images you've brought into your project. To work with specific images for specific steps you can select from here vs clicking on the images themselves. When you hold your CTRL Key down the space on the right side turns gray so you can see you've chosen it. In this case it's the star image and the S. 
• While holding your CTRL Key click "Weld" on the bottom of the right hand side of the screen
• This fuses, or welds, your two images into one

After Welding: 

After you've welded your image you can see how this is now one combined shape. For the next step, duplicate your welded image, change the color, and close the original by clicking on the little eye symbol that corresponds to it. Again, changing the colors of each layer helped me with this! 

Layer Two: 

Layers two and three will use the "Slice" function which is located to the left of the "Weld" function on the bottom right of the Design Space Screen. These will remain grayed out until images you want to use are selected. 

You can see here, I changed this now welded layer to green. 

• Again insert a shape ( I used the star again and sized slightly smaller than the welded star). 
• Position the star shape as appropriate
• Hold CTRL Key and select the star and the welded S and click "Slice" 

Now this is where I got frustrated. Once I hit slice the first time, it didn't appear anything had changed. By accident, I moved the S and that's how I figured out it had actually worked. 

The shape you previously inserted along with the shape you sliced out all appear as one until you move your image around and can see the white space. Several swear words resulted from this until I accidentally moved the image! You can keep or delete these images depending on whether you're going to need then again for your next layer. 

Layer Three: 

As you did after you welded layer one, make a duplicate of your sliced layer two, change the color to keep things straight, click on the eye symbol to close layer two. 

• Upload or select any additional Design Space images you want to use. 
• For this layer I added a paw and a dog bone 
• Repeat the "Slice" process for Layer Two

Here are my three separate layers: 

Now you can click on the eye symbols for any of the layers you've closed, overlay them, and then click "Select All" in Design Space or via CTRL Key to select as outlined above, lay them atop each other and you can see how all three layers work together and if satisfied, click "Group" just to ensure if you change the size of any layer they all stay in sync. 

(Ignore that my star is green here...I changed the color after I got the screenshot)

Then if you're satisfied that this looks like you want it, send your project to your machine to cut each layer. 

To assemble, use foam dots or squares in between the layers. I was lazy and just punched a couple of extra stars from scraps but you could easily cut these using your machine. 

I selected a coordinating background paper and framed in a 12x12 Shadowbox frame! 

And now, I may become a layered cut file maniac. I need my brain to slow down and stop thinking of everything I want to know how to do all at once! Like how to export these. And how to edit videos. And and and....

I hope this made sense! I figured if I was having a mental block others might be too. Or, could just have been me! Wouldn't be the first time. For sure won't be the last! 😂

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