{Have Gift Bag, Will Travel }

Recently last year, I came across some Gift Bags that can be made using sheet of 12 X 12 paper.  I still adore my die cutting machines, but I am crushing on this idea since it a) doesn't involve cutting and b) utilizes my new favorite tool, the Martha Stewart Scoreboard.

The first Gift Bag, which I created using yummy Webster's Pages Christmas pp, is a  
Small Wine Bag:

  

 The instructions for the above Bag are as follows:

• Use a 12” x 12” piece of paper
• Starting at top left, score at 2 ½”, 5 ½”, 8”, 11”
• Then, score the bottom 2 ½” of the paper (all the way across the page)
• Cut the bottom, vertical strips up to the 2 ½” score line
• Remove the 2 ½” x 1” piece at the end
• Fold along remaining score lines; ink edges as desired 
• Assemble into bag; adhere (I just over-lapped and adhered all of the bottom “flaps” for strength)
• Decorate as desired

  The second Gift Bag is this little gem:

I saw THIS demonstration for a cute Gift Bag on the Cosmo Cricket blog.  Basically, you score your paper (I used 12 X 12 patterned paper) at 3" and at 9"; then rotate your paper one turn and score at 5" and at 7".  The MS Scoreboard works beautifully for this.  Fold on your score lines to crease your paper.  At that point, you fold inward along the 3" and 9" creases and "mitre" your corners.  Once you see the video, you will say, "oh, ok". lol

These are SO easy and have a big "wow factor"!!  If you have any questions, or I forgot something, please don't hesitate to email me at mollyest at gmail dot com.

xoxo

{ It Seems Only Fitting... }

To Wish You a Happy Halloween!

I was inspired by ==> THIS <== faboo Card by Timm on the old Cricut message board.  Timm used the French Manor (FM) cart, which is exclusive to Cricut Circle members.  Since I am not a Circle member, I decided to create my own fashionable Witch using the Forever Young (FY) cart.  Behold:

Unfortunately, the pic doesn't do it justice (insert pouty face here)..it's more striking in real life.

As I said, the dress form is from the FY cart, and the top layer is embossed with the Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls embossing folder.  The witch hat and the cat are from the new Happy Hauntings (HH) cart (which I heart) and I messily inked both of them with bronze ink.  Yes, I hand-tied the bow on the cat...it's the best bow I have ever tied (beaming).

The patterned paper is from My Minds Eye's Lost and Found Collection.  If you have not seen this collection yet, RUN, do not walk, to the nearest store.  They hit the ball out of the park with this collection, in my opinion.

I mentioned the old Cricut message board (MB).  Provo Craft opened a new Cricut MB on October 1st.  HERE is the link.  The old MB is still available to browse, but it is "read only".  I am delighted to report that the new MB is faster than the old one. They have added some new features and I think people will like it once they get used to it.  I rely heavily on the MB for inspiration and information.  I can NOT recommend it highly enough!

Thanks for stopping by!

{ Now and Forever }

I kept looking and looking at this Creative Imaginations paper at my LSS.   It is the 'Breathless' line by Marah Johnson, which is actually a tribute to the Twilight series.  Beautiful? Yes.  But, what would I do with it?  Could I create a Card that would do it justice?  In a word? Yes.

I chose the 'Midnight Garden' patterned paper for both my inspiration and my Envelope.  I used a white Card Base and layered it with a panel of the varnished 'Midnight Sonata' patterned paper, which I heavily distressed using my boning tool and then inked in brown.  You can get a better look at the details on the pic below:

I then layered an argyle cut from Wild Card over the distressed panel, using 3-D dots.  For my rose, I used Wild Card again and cut the rose three times.  Once in black (for the base), once in green (for the leaves and stem), and once in red (for the bud).  After trimming the red and green roses and discarding what I didn't need, I inked the leaves and stem in brown, lightly distressed them, and adhered the green stem directly to the black stem.  Using 3-D dots, I adhered the red rose bud to the black rose bud and lightly inked the edges in brown. I then adhered the completed rose directly to my argyle cut, at an angle. 

To finish the Card, I cut a length of Creative Impressions 1.5" Crepe ribbon and tied it in a pretty bow around the whole Card, like a present.

I was thrilled with this one!!

{ Have a KILLER Birthday}

I have always loved to read.  I went to the bookstore a couple weeks ago and got a few new books.  But, I learned something.  New books = nothing else getting done.  I just cannot put down a new book.  Sigh.  Not really a good thing.

Today's Card was difficult to make.  I finally decided that it was because I don't spend my spare time at the beach...I spend it at the MALL! lol

I was inspired by the faboo Maren Benedict, who made THIS killer Card.  I thought the concept was very different and fun.  I wanted to put a twist on it, though.  I decided a pinwheel Card would be a good way to express my Sentiment:

I used the Life is a Beach (LIAB) cart (which is a summer must have, btw) for the ca-ute shark. I needed something both cute and menacing and he completely fit the bill!

I used Wild Card for the sun, Zooballoo for the waves, Paper Doll Dress Up for the sand.  Now, by  turning the wheel, Sentiment TWO is revealed:

 And, finally getting to the killer part, Sentiment THREE:

I lightly inked the waves in white.  Also, it's a little hard to see in the pic, but I inked the shark teeth in white and "colored" them with a white gel pen.  Then, I covered them with Diamond Glaze to make them stand out a little more.

The "sand" is actually Ultra Fine Flower Soft, called, appropriately enough, 'Sand'.  lol

The Card itself  is a cut from Wild Card,  and I have used it before.  However, this time, I decided I would create my own, CDS.  I don't know why I wanted to reinvent the wheel.

Ok, that's it...have a killer day!

{ Celebrate in Style }

I've had the Forever Young (FY) cart for a few months.  I needed just the right idea to do it justice.  And then...I found the cheetah paper.  If the clothes make the man, the paper definitely makes the Card!  This particular patterned paper is from the Untamed Collection by Marah Johnson/Creative Imaginations, specifically the Cheetah:

 

...and its fabulous, just by itself.  But...

What if I did a silhouette from FY?  Maybe a matching purse? Oooo...a side stair step Card? Now we're talkin' really fabulous!  Feast your eyes on the Card and coordinating Envelope:

Side view of the Card:

The entire ensemble:

   Close up of the purse:

Ok, now the deets.

First of all, the side stair step Cards (also apparently called side step or accordion Cards) I have seen are A2-sized.  So I adapted THIS style of Card , whatever it's called, to an A7 or 5" X 7" Card.  I have added a link for downloading my template and instructions on the Downloads page on the right sidebar.

All cuts on this Card are from FY.  Using Cricut Design Studio (CDS), I cut the silhouette and pantsuit at 4.875 inches.  The small purse and shoes were cut at 2" and the frame I cut at 3 inches. I used the arrows to "size down" the sunglasses until they looked to be the appropriate size for the purse.

The larger purse is a cut directly off of the FY cart at 6 inches.  The only thing I did in CDS was rotate the cut so I could make it larger.  I used my crop-a-dile to set gold eyelets in each side of the purse and knotted the pretty gold ribbon on the inside to form a handle.  The brads are also Creative Imaginations and I removed the shank on each of them and attached them to the "flap" with a glue dot.  To adhere the "flap" to the purse, I used a Zig pen to place adhesive on the back of the "flap" and let it dry clear to form a re-positionable bond.

If you have any questions about the template or instructions or problems with the download, please don't hesitate to email me at: mollyest at gmail dot com.

Ok, that's it!  Thanks for stopping by!

{ Cheers }

I've had this basic Card in my head for some time:

I used the Martini from From My Kitchen (FMK) for the shadow, blackout, olive and pimento.  The Cosmo Cricket paper that I chose didn't lend itself to that 50's feel that comes so naturally with this cart, which is a bit disappointing.  But, you can't have everything!

I cut the blackout twice. Once at 6.75" (the size I cut everything else) and once at 6".  I had originally planned to use Diamond Glaze on the blackout to resemble liquid in the glass but decided to cut another blackout at a smaller size and on shimmer paper for the liquid instead.  I did use Diamond Glaze on the straw portion of the blackout, but it's hard to tell in this pic.

I used Fabulous Finds (a recent acquisition) for the little charm and I welded "Cheers" from Wild Card inside of it using Cricut Design Studio.  I tied it to the Martini glass with a piece of jute for a one-of-a-kind wineglass charm! I just love myself sometimes!

This could be a Congrats Card...or a 21st Birthday Card...or a Let's Go Have Cocktails Card...

Thanks for stopping by!

{ Abby Found Her Prince }

My Friend Abby is getting married.  Naturally, I offered to help with took over the invitations for her Bachelorette Party/Personal Shower.

I used 'Front Porch' from Pink Paislee's Bayberry Cottage line as my inspiration.  From there, I decided on the froggie from the Sweethearts (SH) Cricut cart because he's a frog/prince and Abby {hearts} frogs.  Here's what I came up with:

The frog and crown are from the SH cart, the little heart is a punch, and the sentiment is computer-generated.

At the last minute, I decided to make some coordinating sour cream containers for the party.  I used THIS tutorial from splitcoaststampers.com.  They were SO easy and cute!  Although, I clearly need to work on my crimping.

Next, I decided to do a Freezer Paper T-shirt and coordinating flip flops:

I used SH for "The Bride" and the Freezer Paper t-shirt instructions are available on my downloads page (in the right sidebar).  The t-shirt and flip flops were on sale at Michael's.  The pic of the t-shirt didn't turn out particularly well...the color is prettier IRL.

Finally, I used SH again for the tag on the gift bags. I cut the tag on black cardstock and adhered a piece of the 'Front Porch' pp behind it.  I think they turned out pretty cute!  I tied some jute and a couple of the ribbons from the flip flops onto one of the bag handles:

Including a 1-hour trip to Michael's, driving time to and from Michael's, hand washing and drying the t-shirt, creating all of these items (with the exception of the invitation) took me a total of 5 hours.  And I showered and put on my face in that time.  My point is everything came together pretty quickly!!

Have a good evening!