Winter Decorations with Creative Charms

 

Today is my day to post on the Creative Charms blog.  I decided to do a Winter project and avoid the overload of red and green that many of us are feeling by now.  Of course, I love blue and white so it was easy to talk myself into this theme!

I started with the small solo shadowbox tray by 7Gypsies - I just got this in my last order from Blitsy (they have sold out of these now but the regular price is $10 so it's not too expensive even if you have to pay full price at another store).

For the backing paper in each compartment I used this stack by DCWV.  I cut the word Winter from the Cheerful Seasons Cricut cartridge in blue Dazzle cardstock, also from DCWV.

For the large top section, I added a piece of Core'dinations Core Couture glitter cardstock in white along the bottom.  I hand cut a curve to look something like a snowbank.

The rosette in the center section along the bottom was cut with the Tim Holtz rosette die with paper that I printed on the Imagine from the Heirloom cartridge.

I like the effect you get by layering gem stickers on top of other embellishments like these snowflakes.  used some snowflakes from the Winter Seasonal Medley and the Winter Seasonal Sparkles and then added Gradient Gem stickers to the centers for additional dimension and color.

Here are a few tips for working with these trays.

1.  Be sure to measure the inside dimensions of each section that you plan to "wallpaper" with some background paper.  They are usually just a bit smaller than the nominal size.  This box is supposed to have a 4 x 6 compartment and three 2 x 2 compartments.  I actually cut the paper at 5 7/8 x 3 7/8 for the large section and 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 for the small squares.

2.  The depth is nearly 3/4 of an inch so you can add lots of small dimensional items and place tiny figures or shapes on the ledges of the box.  I am going to start a box with anything I find that has the potential to fit in one of these trays.  I also used adhesive foam squares to raise some of the items within the box.

3.  You can change out the sections inside the box for different seasons if you use repositionable tape or magnets to hold the piece of paper in place.

4.  I "fussy cut" the small sections for the bottom row to make sure that a full key and the entire medallion would fit into these positions.

5.  Tweezers are very helpful when working with the papers and trying to get them out of the compartments when you are ready to stick everything down.

This sort of project is fairly quick and easy to do if you gather all of your coordinating papers and embellishments together and just start trying various placements and combinations of elements.  This would make a great little gift for a friend or just a nice decoration to tuck in an empty spot on a table or shelf.

Lettering Delights  Dollar Days sale is continuing.  Most items are just $1 (Graphic sets, fonts, alphabets, clip art, paper packs, doodlebats, candy wraps, etc.) and the Cut-its and SVGs are 50% off.  You can get an additional savings of $20 off on an order of $50 or more by using the code newyear20.

We went to see the movie "Hugo" in 3D last night - it was amazing!  Do you go to the movies during the holiday season?  It has become a tradition in our family to try to see at least one movie in the theater over the holidays.

Subscribe to Capadia Designs 

Pastel Skate Card

Today I have a link to another seasonal card to share with you.  This one was made with the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge - just like the Fall wheelbarrow card from a few days ago.  This is one of my all time favorite cartridges for general use.  The Creative Charms embellishments added just the right finishing touches.

You can read the original post HERE.

We will be totally caught up in the last minute preparations, travel  and then our son's wedding so for the next few days I'll be posting some links to some favorite projects and posts that address topics that I am asked about frequently.  I'll update with wedding photos when I can and will be back to a more normal routine after the first week of September.  Thanks to everyone for all of the wedding good wishes.


Subscribe to Capadia Designs 

 

Fall is nearly here...

School has started or is about to start for most of the country and there is definitely a touch of Fall in the air.  This card is a favorite from last September.  I made it using the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge.  You can read the original post HERE.

I hope you are having  a great weekend!

We will be totally caught up in the last minute preparations, travel  and then our son's wedding so for the next few days I'll be posting some links to some favorite projects and posts that address topics that I am asked about frequently.  I'll update with wedding photos when I can and will be back to a more normal routine after the first week of September.  Thanks to everyone for all of the wedding good wishes.

Subscribe to Capadia Designs 

 

Sales, Celebrations and a Video to share...

There are just a few things I want to make sure you know about this morning - I'll be back with a more "crafty" post later today.  If you are an email subscriber, please scroll down to see the post from yesterday morning about the December deal and kit from Creative Charms - as always they are a great value and fun to work with.

Yesterday the Tim Holtz started this year's Twelve Tags of Christmas series.  These are wonderful, elaborate tags using many techniques that are carefully explained step by step.  Tim actually creates the tags each night and posts them at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time (a little late for me to wait up to see!).  There are also giveaways for each of the twelve days and you just have to leave a comment on the post for that day to have a chance at a prize.  He explains all about the series at THIS POST and you can see the first tag at THIS POST.

The Jingle Deals continue with some great offers from Creative Memories.  I posted the details of this special sale HERE a few days ago  (just scroll down past all of the snowflakes!).

If you use the Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 software there is a special 30% off "jingle deal" on select content downloads until Friday, December 3rd.  The new version of the Storybook software for the Mac computers was launched last month so be sure to pay attention to whether the item you are choosing is for a Mac or PC as the formats are different.  This LINK will take you to the page on my Creative Memories website where you can see all of the items included in the sale - I know I will be adding the "Winter Delight Corners" and Winter Delight Edges" to my library (and a few others as well!).

As you can see, I've been making snowflakes again using the Creative Memories exclusive cartridges. The one at the top of this post is from elements on the Cheerful Seasons cartridge and the one just above is made using elements from Reminisce Accents.  The files for these will be available soon - or you can use these as inspiration to try making some of your own.

If you are interested in ordering the Reminisce Accents or Cheerful Seasons Creative Memories exclusive cartridges and don't have a local consultant I would be happy to help you - just click the names of the cartridges to go to the page on my personal website where you can order and have them sent directly to you.  This is a great time to order since there is a special deal for shipping of just $1.99 on orders of $25 or more - the normal shipping for the two cartridges would be $9.35 (and the usual minimum shipping fee is $8.50 if you order just one cartridge and nothing else).  This special shipping deal is good until December 6th. Please leave a comment or email me if you have any questions about these cartridges. 

Finally, I want to say Happy Hanukkah to all of you who celebrate this holiday and to share this very clever (and educational!) video that I found out about from my neighbor.  I love a cappella singing and the Maccabeats from Yeshiva University are really terrific in this video!



Subscribe to Capadia Designs       

Sparkly Snowman Card

This card is made with a combination of elements from the two Creative Memories exclusive cartridges,  Reminisce Accents and Cheerful Seasons.  I created the shaped card and frame from elements on the Reminisce Accents and the snowman is from Cheerful Seasons.  Today I want to show you how I changed the snowman by adding an extra layer and tomorrow I'll explain how to create the card base and post the file.

Cheerful Seasons is primarily a font cartridge with five of the seven possible functions nearly filled with alphabets.  This leaves four settings for the shapes and their layers.

When you cut the layers exactly as they are set up on the cartridge you will have these four cuts to use to build the snowman.

The result is a snowman with all of his details in a single color - in this case black.  I wanted to add a few more colors so I decided to cut a few extra pieces.

I wanted my snowman to have a red scarf so I cut an extra of the third layer (shown on the keypad above).

Now I had a piece to use to create the scarf.  The red dotted cardstock is from Martha Stewart.

I only wanted the areas that would form the scarf to be red so I trimmed away these extra pieces.

I also wanted my snowman to have a carrot nose so I found a tiny scrap in orange glitter cardstock that was left from another project to fit behind the nose cut on the face.

 When you put the layers together, the shadows work a little bit differently.  The layer beneath the snow layer only extends beyond the "snowy" parts.  It lines up exactly with the arms and hat.  This image from the handbook shows you how to align the pieces.

I used Core'dinations gemstone cardstock for the card base and core couture glitter cardstock for the frame, and three of the layers of the snowman.  The black layer is actually the back side of a piece of Onyx gemstone cardstock because I wanted the matte effect with so much shine going on in the card.

It is extremely difficult to photograph the Core Couture cardstock and truly capture the sparkle.  It is a delicate and almost iridescent glitter finish and is extremely pretty in person.  I find this cardstock at Joann's and try to wait for the sales to stock up.  It also cuts very nicely in the Cricut - the frame has a lot of twists and turns and some small triangular areas and it cut perfectly and lifted right off the mat.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how to create the shaped card.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been voting for my layout in the Creative Memories contest to win a Cricut Cruise.  Your comments have been so sweet and I am very happy to have such great support from my Cricut friends (and others).  

If you are a Facebook member, please try to vote everyday.  Here is the LINK to my contest page.  You have to wait 24 hours between votes so if you remember what time you voted the day before and try to vote around that time each day it should work out well.  Voting continues until the 23rd and I really appreciate that you are willing to go the extra mile and vote so many days in a row.  

There will be a link and reminder at the top right of my blog until the 23rd.  For those who asked - I have no way to tell how I am doing since there is not a running tally.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!  Thanks again!

Subscribe to Capadia Designs       

Basket of Apples Card

After the long explanation about previewing colors in Design Studio yesterday, today I decided to go ahead and actually cut a basket of apples and make a quick card.  For this card I used a three inch image.

I set up a mat with all of the cuts I needed.  I used hide contour to separate the leaves from the top basket layer so I could cut them in different colors.

Then I placed appropriately sized pieces of paper on the mat in these positions.   I used Core'dinations cardstock for all of the layers.

Here are all of the cut pieces.  I leave the small items like the leaves on the mat until I am ready to adhere them to the larger pieces so I don't lose any of the tiny bits.

In spite of all of the previewing, I changed my mind and decided that the dark brown I used for the shadow layer did not contrast enough with my basket so I cut another shadow in a lighter, warmer brown.

I wanted to keep the colors bright and clear so I used this green paper from the Cheerful Creative Memories papers (these coordinate with the Cheerful Seasons cartridge).  The green layer is cut at 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches.  I added two more mats in yellow (5  x 3 3/4 inches) and white (3 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches).

Here you can see all of the mat layers - I wanted crisp lines so I did not ink any of the layers.

When the card was assembled it was cute but a little flat...

...so I added just a bit of lime green Stickles to the leaves to make them sparkle and perk up the card.

This was a quick card to put together once I had all of the layers figured out.  I think it is nice and cheery and it would make a good "just because" card.

A package was delivered today (no, not the Imagine).  The package contained part of the surprise for Wednesday that I told you about.  You won't want to miss this one - it is something special that I am very excited to be able to share with some of you...did you figure it out yet?


Subscribe to Capadia Designs       

Color Previews in Design Studio

I have had several questions about how to use the color preview option in Design Studio.  One reader suggested that I answer in a blog post so others who have the same question would see the answer.  I am happy to do this - in fact, if you have a particular question you would like me to write about, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or email me to let me know.

I find the color preview to be very helpful in figuring out the layers for the more complicated cuts.  It also helps me make decisions about a color scheme without wasting a lot of paper.

Each mat in your file can only be one color so the first thing you need to do is to determine the number of layers in the design you are working with.  You also need to think through the order of the layers since the mats preview from top to bottom.  For example,  if you put the shadow on an earlier mat than the regular image you will block out all of the details.

I chose this apple basket from Cheerful Seasons to demonstrate the preview process.  (remember, you can click on any image to enlarge it so you can see the details more clearly).

I set the size at 4 inches on the slider bar and then found all of the layers for the image - in this case there are four.  I started off by putting them on the original mat in the file so I could look to see what some logical colors might be.

Then I added more pages of mats to the file.  In this case, I need four for the design layers, one to represent the background of the card or page and a clear mat for previewing the full design.

To help keep things organized, go ahead and change the names of the pages by right clicking on the mat and then typing the name in the box in the drop down menu.  To add the new name you need to click on "Change Page Name" at the top of the drop down menu or press "enter" on your computer keyboard.

Once you have named all of the pages start copying and pasting the images to the proper mat layer.  Click the image to select it, then click the copy button on the left side of the mat.

Then click on the appropriate page of the file and click the "paste" button to place the shape on that mat.

 To help in aligning the images you can use the center marker (the pale gray "plus" sign) and place it on an intersection of the grid lines on the mat.

 Do a preview by clicking the "eyeball" on the left side of the screen after the first two items are placed.  The colors are randomly assigned by the program and you can change them after all of the layers are placed.  I would only change them at this stage if there was not enough contrast between two layers for me to see them clearly.

Keep adding the layers by using the handles to move them, aligning each of the layers with the previewed images below.  The plus sign will not always work to align the images as the layers change in size.  Preview the images after each layer is moved into position.Be sure to delete each image from the first page after you have moved it to the mat you have prepared for that layer.

When all of the image layers are in position, add a convenient large blacked out shape to represent the card or page.  Then right click on the mat and choose "Set Preview Color" from the drop down menu.

You can choose any of the basic colors by simply clicking on the box for that color and then clicking the "OK" box.  When you preview this color will fill the shape.

 If you want more variety or a color that isn't in the basic array you can click "Select Custom Color" and create exactly the color you like.  Unfortunately, even if you click "Add to Custom Colors" this will not be saved by the Design Studio program.  If you want the exact same color on another page, be sure to take note of the numbers in the boxes.

 When you preview all of the layers you can see that there may be some changes you can make to the layers to get a final image with even more detail.

I would add some extra layers, using "hide selected contour" to separate the leaves from the basket frame and cutting the image in two different colors.  I would also cut an extra set of apples in another color that I want to use to line the basket so the solid apple color does not show through.

You can keep changing the colors to try different effects.  By changing the preview colors of the two apple layers I can see that it may be OK to have the red layer double as the inside liner of the basket - it is not nearly as distracting as the yellow layer was.

Ideally, I would like to be able to preview the images with my patterned papers.  There is a way I can do that now with some of my Creative Memories papers by taking screen shots into the StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 digital program that I use but it is a slow and cumbersome process.  The Cricut Imagine will preview with paper fill but only with the limited number of papers that are on the Imagine cartridges (though I am sure there will be many more of these cartridges coming in the future).

One more point I should make - the color preview is eliminated when you have welded shapes in your design.  When something is properly welded the preview will show only the dark cutting line.  If you want to see what your design will look like in color you can set up another page with the images and uncheck the weld box.  Be sure to mark this page PREVIEW ONLY so you don't accidentally cut the unwelded images.

I hope you had fun on "Talk Like a Robot Day" (10-10-10).  Apparently this was also the "lucky" wedding date chosen by over 39,000 couples.  We had a nice (though short) visit with our son at his college Parent Weekend.  I am trying to catch up on the emails I received over the weekend while we were away.  I should be able to finish up tomorrow.  

Monday is the last day for the Lettering Delights Dollar Days sale.  You can click the box in the left side column to go to the site - use the code BalloonFun to save an additional 10% on any purchase. The sale ends at midnight Mountain time.

Subscribe to Capadia Designs