{ Let It Snow }

I was having trouble creating a card with the Making Memories pp I ordered; so, I looked for inspiration over at BBTB. Wow, I found exactly what I was looking for and even decided to play along with the weekly challenge, which was to use the penguin from Joys of the Season (JOTS)!


My little Penguin Girl is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, has red bling toes, coordinating scarf and hat (from PDDU) and is mounted on a snowflake-covered transparency! Thanks BBTB!!

{ Boo ...and Stuff }

Well, I have been creating...just not posting! This is a slide show of 4 Halloween cards and one Thanksgiving card.

{ Photographing Your Projects }

I know when I started attempting to post pics of my work on websites I was so intimidated! Everyone else's work looked so much more professional than mine. I had no idea where to look for tips. Well, I have now found it!!!! Amy Sheffer gives some great ideas on Splitcoaststampers.com:

HTDT? 7.22.09 Photographing Your Papercrafting Projects

Happy pic taking!

{ If You Were a Crocodile, You'd be a Handbag by Now! }

I can't get enough of Minnie's purse on the Mickey and Friends cart! To create this card, I welded two 6 inch purses together in CDS (the bases only, not the straps). The croc-embossed paper is from Anna Griffin's Peyton line. Its fairly thin, so I cut the welded piece on brown CS and then again on the croc paper.




Once I adhered the croc paper to the CS (using dry adhesive), I gently pried the croc paper away from the CS at the top of the purse and poked a small length of tulle between the two layers. Once I was satisfied with the way the tulle looked, I squeezed a little liquid glue in between the layers to secure it. This is the view of the card from more of a side angle:




I added some grosgrain ribbon and a buckle from Hobby Lobby to the front of the card and accented the buckle with a single pink Bling.

{ If You've Got It...Flaunt It! }

I was inspired by THIS card by KaseyCardy to make my own Bikini Card. The 'top' is the only element cut on the Cricut and it is flocked pp from Anna Griffin's Peyton line. I used a 2-inch circle punch to create the curvy sides and the neckline...as well as the leg holes (I don't know what else to call them...lol)

All in all, a very easy card! Have a great day!

{Bigger is Not Always Better! }

Really!

I have been intrigued with the idea of 'inchies' for a few weeks now. What are they? What are the rules? ...and maybe most importantly, What do you use them for? Answers...

~ They are one inch pieces of Art
~ The size is the only Rule
~ You can use them on Cards and Layouts, collect them, or trade them!

People seem to be talking more and more about recycling, saving money...or, at the very least, not spending MORE money. I think this is where 'inchies' are very exciting. You can create a one-inch-by-one-inch project using a scrap and a single flower, dew drop or scrap of ribbon! Once you do that, you can design a card around that one 'inchie'. Or, you can create several 'inchies' in the same colors, pattern or theme and use those on a card or Layout!

If you are not opposed to a small, 'inchie'-related investment (this is SO me...'but, it will help me use my scraps!'), there are products on the Market designed just for 'inchies'. 'Inchie' blanks are 1-inch black squares and 1-inch white squares you can use to start your 'inchie' project or shadow it once its complete. Inkadinkadoo (and others) make 1-inch Stamps...yes...'inchie' stamps! How cool is that??!! I know people have the Fear of Stamping (you know who you are, lol)...what a great way to conquer that fear! Its just a 1-inch stamp! No fear allowed!! (Ok, getting off soapbox before I crush it...)

Here is my first 'Inchie' Creation:




I used Cosmo Cricket's new Early Bird Line on this simple, but eye-catching card and coordinating Envelope. My 'inchies' are red CS squares topped with a flower cut from the Home Decor Cricut cartridge, which are evenly spaced on a strip of blue/green CS. I placed the strip on a polka dot tree (lol) from the Wild Card Cart....which ties the card to the Envelope. I inked everything fairly heavily in brown and added a jute bow to finish it!

Have a great day!

{ Got Pinwheel? }

There is a card on the Wild Card Cricut cartridge that is called a 'Pinwheel'. The outline looked like Swiss cheese to me, but someone on the Cricut MB made and posted one and I was totally inspired! The card has a wheel that you can turn...and on the wheel you can put different sentiments. I decided to use some Cosmo Cricut PP that was bright and cheery! This is the entire card...the first sentiment on the wheel is 'You're absolutely Fabulous!'




Then you turn the wheel and it says 'No--Seriously, you are!'...and the last turn reveals 'Thanks for being...YOU!'



Instructions: I cut the Card at 7" and it measures 5" X 7". I cut both the frame and the wheel at that setting, as well. I created my sentiments in Word, punched them out with a 1 1/8" circle punch and adhered them to the wheel once it was in place. Due to that, I needed a 'spacer' between the wheel and the Card so the wheel would turn properly. I cut a 3/4" chipboard circle and it worked perfectly. I cut my 'stem' using Plantin Schoolbook (Shift/Tall Ball/Zigzag) at 1", which is the width. A tiny heart-shaped Making Memories brad holds it all together.

{ Congrat-Shoe-lations }

I was inspired by LauraCrumpacker on the Cricut MB (my new obsession) to make this fabulous shoe and gift bag! The shoe is created using a template from Carlos N. Molina. His website is pretty interesting and he provides both a template and a video for his little shoe. Its surprisingly easy to make!! He also does a purse, but I chose to make mine using the Plantin Schoolbook cart.



The PP for both the shoe and the bag are Kimberly Poloson...and they are truly beautiful. I cut my bag from Bazzill CS on my Cricut and then measured and cut pieces of the PP to cover it. I also cut the tag from the PSB cart. The ribbon for the shoe is actually from Wal-Mart...I bought it separately, for another project!! I hand-cut the butterfly from the PP, backed it with CS, rolled up the wings and added a dew drop.

I know I will be making more shoe/bag combos in the future! TFL!

{ Its all about STYLE! }

This is my most recent and favorite 'Talk of the Town' card and coordinating envelope! The PP is 'Trenchcoat' from Heidi Swapp's Runway series...it doesn't get any better than black/white & hawt peenk! The purses, again, are Minnie's and Daisy's from the Mickey & Friends Cart...and they are velvet (Beetle black crushed velvet from Doodlebug Design)!



One of the features of this series is a scalloped edge, which I use my Cutterpede to accomplish. This pic shows that edge more effectively:



The sentiment for this card is: 'Who cares about Age, its all about STYLE!'

{ Talk of the Town }

In January of this year, I started a series of cards that speak to the Diva in all of us! I call them 'Talk of the Town'. I was inspired by a creation in a Paper Crafts publication entitled 'You Go Girl' (I don't know if its still available, but I've gotten SO many ideas from it!). The idea is simple...create 2 women out of triangles and ovals (stay with me, here, lol), draw arms and legs, add handbags and, lastly, have them say something witty and Diva-esque! The only thing I really changed was the size of the triangles...'my' Girls have a little more junk in the trunk!! lol

Here is the first one:



The ovals and triangles are from George and the handbags are from Mickey and Friends, believe it or not! You could definitely accomplish these things without a Cricut, though. The coordinating envelope is behind the card and makes it a little hard to see that the back flap of the card consists of a strip of the PP, which I scalloped on my Cutterpede (adhere a ~1" strip of the PP to the back flap, then scallop the whole thing at once...that way it will be even!...once you have done that, you can trim down the front flap of the card to expose the scalloped edge as much as you want).

My sentiment is: 'Best Friends: You fight, I fight. You hurt, I hurt. You cry, I cry. You jump off a bridge, I rent a paddle boat and save your crazy butt!!' lol

Stay tuned for the rest of the Series!

{ And we're back... }

OK, I didn't say how often I would blog! LOL (I've been trying to improve my picture-taking skills!)

I did this darling Transparency Card for my March card-making class. I used PP from Heidi Grace's 'Sweetest Bug' Line...which I adore! I did use my Cricut to cut my Sassy Lady Bug; but, you wouldn't have to...She's just half circles!

The trick to this 'nested' Transparency Card is adhesive placement. Since the pieces of PP nest, you only want to use adhesive where it will be covered up by the piece in front of it.

This style of Card consists of 4 pieces of PP, in this order, largest to smallest: back side of back flap, inside of back flap, back side of front flap and front of card. (I always get so caught up with the PP that I forget that you need a place for inside sentiment, so I generally have to add a piece of CS to the inside of the back flap, on top of the PP). This is a view of the inside of the Card (with said piece of CS for sentiment, lol):



Sorry about the glare, but it actually helps you to see the Card base better! In this case, you would only want to put adhesive on the back piece, which is flowers, where it will be covered by the blue lady bug paper. Here is the back of the Card:



If you use something with words, be sure you face them upwards!

I purchase archival quality transparency sheets in the Drafting/Art department of my local hobby store. Some people use transparencies purchased at an office supply store, but they are not archival quality. I feel that if you spend a lot of time creating a special card for a special person, you will want it to last! (maybe that's just me!!) I cut the transparency down to the card size I want...just like I would a piece of CS.

If you find that you have adhered a rectangle piece crooked on the transparency, I suggest that you continue to adhere your rectangles so they line up; its likely no one will notice they are not centered on the transparency, which you could always trim after the card is complete.

Also, you can use a black permanent marker to made little black dots or ‘faux’ stitching along some of the edges of the transparency (an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will remove any mistakes). If you use regular ink, it will not dry on the transparency.

Have fun and thanks for looking!!

~M

{ Well, Owl Be }

I've been wanting to create an Owl Card from the 'Wild Card' Cricut cartridge for a while now...and I did it! I used patterned paper from Basic Grey's Bittersweet Valentine's Line for the card itself and Bazzill's Mud Pie cardstock for the coordinating envelope! I 'Stickled' her front feathers and added sassy cardstock eyelashes! I am in love with her!

{ Bitten!! }

I've been following Regina Easter's work at 'Bitten by the Bug' for several months now. I am in love with everything those Ladies create over there! This week, I decided to accept their challenge to create a card using the 'Heart' from the 'Doodlecharms' Cricut cartridge. I opted for a simple card...which I titled 'Simply Be Mine'.



The patterned paper is from Creative Imaginations/Helen Dardik's Cutie Pie Girl Line. Of course, I did a coordinating envelope as well!

{ Have Blog, will...uh, do something }

I was the last person in my circle of family/friends/acquaintances to get a cell phone. Look at me, I'm Blogging...and doing it before anyone else! (I think!)

I'm Molly...I make cards and envelopes...I teach card-making classes...and now... I Blog!

WELCOME!