Love Card - For Valentine's Day or anytime

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.  I meant to post this earlier in the day but I got busy with some projects and didn't sit down to write it up until evening.  I am close to figuring out a way to make a cut that has been very tricky to figure out...more about that later.

 

This is a special Valentine but could be used for other occasions too.  I used mirror cardstock for the heart which is very difficult to photograph effectively.

Here are the pieces of the card.  It is a simple design made more elegant with the glitter and mirror cardstock.  The A2 card base is Papertrey Ink dark chocolate - I like pink and brown together.  The heart paper is from K & Company - Kelly Panacci Valentine - cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches.  The red mirror cardstock is DCWV from the Citrus Cardstock Stack and the white glitter cardstock is also DCWV.

 

I designed the card with Design Studio.  The card base and the pink layer are just guides to help me see how to size the heart and floral decorations.  I do not cut these from the file.  I used the heart from George but altered the shape slightly to fit the floral pieces.

Here is the floral spray I used - they look a bit like lily of the valley.  The size was about 2 1/2 inches - I adjusted it with the "handles" in Design Studio to 2.561 inches.

The "Love" sentiment is from Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art.  I really like the word art on all of the Martha Stewart cartridges - it is great for card makers as well as cake bakers!

At the 1 1/4 inch height the word is far too wide to fit in the heart, so I used the "handles" to adjust the size to 1.959 inches to fit nicely.

 Once I had my elements sized appropriately, I moved them to one mat to set up the cutting.  I label the tabs with the color and size of cardstock needed for each cut.  In this case, I put them on separate mats so I could change the blade and pressure settings since I planned to use vinyl for the heart.  I made one screen shot to post to show the placement.

I originally planned to use some of the red glitter vinyl for the card but I decided it was too flashy and did not have the elegant look I wanted.  I'll be able to use the heart I cut on another project.

When I cut the DCWV glitter cardstock I use blade depth 6, high pressure and multi cut 2 times.  Sometimes one cut will work but I prefer to do the second cut to get clean edges.  Occasionally, I need to do a third cut.  I cut the mirror cardstock with blade 5, high pressure and speed - there is no need to multicut.

I added all of the glitter elements to the red heart.  You need to be careful with your adhesive as it is difficult to remove marks from the mirror cardstock.  If you get extra adhesive showing you can try using a gum eraser to pick it up and polish the cardstock with a photo polishing cloth.

I added foam circles to give a little more dimension to the card.

Just that slight elevation adds a lot to the card and it is still easy to mail.

 I think the slight gap between the heart and the white stem that allows the pink cardstock to show through is interesting.

The mirror finish on the cardstock is so pretty - I tried another photo with different lighting to try to show you the effect.

I broke my usual rule of using only one or two cartridges - sometimes you find just the right thing in a lot of different places.

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day - we had a quiet evening at home with a special home cooked dinner.  We'll be eating lots of restaurant meals on the cruise so we weren't very motivated to go out tonight!

Subscribe to Capadia Designs

Grouping and Resizing in Design Studio

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I generally work with the Design Studio software and in many ways, I prefer it to the Gypsy.  I am planning to do a post with a side by side comparison of the Gypsy and Design Studio soon, however, today I saw some comments on the Cricut Message Board and realized that there are many people who do not understand all of the capabilities of the software.

I haven't made any videos for quite a while for reasons that are a bit complicated and I don't think they are appropriate to share here.  However, when I read some of the complaints and saw that some of the frustrations people have with Design Studio are due to the lack of information on how to use it, I decided to go ahead and make a video to show you how to create simple or complex designs, group them and resize them to suit your projects.



Please let me know if you have any questions or need help with this - it really is pretty simple to do.

I hope you are getting a chance to relax after the hectic holidays.  The snow is finally stopping but we did get a lot of accumulation and everything is moving pretty slowly today.  Our son has managed to rebook his vacation and the silver lining is that he will actually be with us until Thursday.

Subscribe to Capadia Designs        

Autumn Welcome Back ATCs

It's great to finally be back home.  Our unexpectedly extended journey home lasted over 30 hours so I am happy to stay put for a day or two.  At the end of the week I am heading off to Pennsylvania to visit my Dad and to go to the Cricut Circle Meetup on Saturday in Valley Forge (please let me know if you will be there).

I thought I would post the Artist trading cards (ATCs) I did for one of my groups last month.  This group has monthly sign-ups so the number of participants varies.  It had dwindled down to very few participants so a few of us decided to make "surprise" ATCs for everyone in the group to see if we could get people to be more active again.  This meant I had 27 ATCs to make so I knew that the design and assembly needed to be simple if they were to be finished on time.

This is the simple design I came up with for the cards. I experimented with the colors to get some ideas for the papers I might choose.  I decided to use an autumn color scheme.

I set up files to cut ATC bases in Design Studio a couple of years ago.  I find that this is the only way to be sure that everything will be cut evenly and that the layers will align well.  First are the bases.  The only rule in making Artist Trading Cards is that they must be 2.5 by 3.5 inches.  I  set up a mat to cut 12 of these from one sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock.

The second layers is set to cut at 2.25 x 3.25 inches.  I cut twelve of these on one mat with the Cricut.  It would be possible to get a few more by using a trimmer but I usually am making a smaller number of cards and this is adequate for most ATC swaps.

The top layer is 2 x 3 inches and I could fit 18 of these on the 12 x 12 mat.  You can use any square or rectangle to create these files - just change the dimension in the Shape Properties Box to get the correct size.

I used the "Hello" from the Cindy Loo cartridge.

The correct height for the word so it would fit the mat was 1.5 inches.  I had to adapt the shape by using the right center handle to make the width less than three inches.  When I had the sizing correct, I added three more words to each row all in the same selection box.  If you adapt the first cut and then just click the key for the same image the changes made will continue to apply for all of the additional items in the box.  Then you can quickly copy and paste the rows to fill the mat.

This is the cutting mat for all of the words needed for the project.  There are 28 "Hello" cuts and this took a very long time to finish cutting!

I used the multi cut 2 times setting and got a nice clean cut.  I was able to carefully lift the sheet of cardstock leaving only the words on the mat.

It is easiest to keep all of the cuts on the mat until you are ready to adhere them to the card - it prevents accidental damage  or loss of the words.  This cardstock was from the DCWV "Natural" stack ad has a lovely coppery foil pattern of leaves.

I lifted one cut to check it on the mat of top layers for the cards.  The fit was perfect because I had used the Design Studio guideline to size the image.

For my first card I did a "trial run" and inked the edges of the layers and assembled the cards.  I thought the inking looked messy so I decided to simply add a pen line around each layer.  You can see a close view of the inking (on the left) and the lines (on the right) in the photo above.

In this photo you can see that the addition of the lines makes for a more finished looking card.

When I had the cards assembled I decided to add a shiny maple leaf punched with a Creative Memories punch from copper foil cardstock to each card.

Even though the design was very simple, it took quite a bit of time to cut all of the layers, add the words and pen lines. design the back of the cards and add the leaves.

I usually do the backs of my ATCs digitally using my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 software.  Then I just have to sign and number them and adhere the backs to the fronts.  I cut the backs slightly smaller than 2.5 x 3.5 inches so I don't have any edges showing on the front.

I hope that the ATC's we sent around will get more people thinking about joining in the swaps again.

My sleeping and waking times will be off for the next few days.  I am trying to catch up with all of the emails and comments but it will probably take a few days.  I do have some interesting projects to post - I just need to find the time to get them written up and still get my "calling cards" done for the Meet Up!  Hello Thursday is tomorrow and I hope everyone will love the new cartridges.  I think they will be hits!


Subscribe to Capadia Designs       

Halloween Card with Bats - same card, different day....

I was in the mood to make a fall holiday card so I put together this Halloween card.  I don't really send Halloween cards but I have made quite a few of them, so this year I think I should send some of them to my nieces and nephews! 

The paper and embellishments you choose can totally transform the look of a Cricut cut image.  This card has the same topper that I showed you how to make a few days ago.  I used "hide selected contour" to alter an image from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  (Here is a LINK to that post).

This first card I made is bright and "springy" with a purple base, yellow gemstone cardstock topper and sparkly butterflies. 

For the Halloween card I used Papertrey Ink cardstock for the black card base and cut the card topper design in green glitter cardstock (Core'dinations Core Couture in the dark green "classy" shade).

If you look carefully at the negative spaces in the design you can see shapes that look a bit like bats (above) and little monsters or skulls and crossed bones (below).

I cut some bats from Core'dinations Gemstone cardstock in Onyx - I decided to use the plain black reverse side for better contrast to the glitter topper.

I used the Cuttlebug combo "Creepy" 3 x 3 Die/Emboss set to cut and emboss the bats (I used the spider on another project).

To raise the bats up so they could "fly" on the card I cut foam squares into strips that fit the thin bodies.  I didn't have any dark foam squares on hand but it is a good idea to use the dark squares for projects like this where the white could show.

The word "BOO" is cut from the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge. 

In the "Cheerful Font" which has a mixture of type styles the shift of both the "b" and the "o" are in the same style and look slightly "drippy."  I cut these from orange DCWV glitter cardstock directly from the Cricut using multi cut (4 times) to get a clean cut.  The DCWV glitter cardstock has a thick coating and can take several repeats to cut completely.  I have found that the thickness can vary.  Usually only 2 cuts will be enough but this particular piece had a heavier "glaze" and was tougher to cut.  (I did not unload the paper after the first two cuts and so I was able to just press "load paper" again and repeat the cut for a total of four cuts).

Here is one more view of the final card - simple to make and a little spooky!

We had a bit of spookiness here last night - our power has been going out in the last couple of days and it went off and stayed off last night.  We had to hang a camping lantern from the kitchen chandelier for light.  I had written but not published my blog post. I waited a while but, with no internet, I went to bed earlier than usual.  This morning I was able to get online again to make the post live - if you are a subscriber this is why the email came later than usual yesterday...

Do you make - and send - Halloween cards?


Subscribe to Capadia Designs       

Cindy Loo Card Topper

This card is another simple design I made using an image from the Cindy Loo cartridge.   I adapted  the shape and hid some of the interior cutting lines to create a card topper. 

I began with this basically square image of a lace design.

On the right you can see the original image and on the left the image I created by hiding some of the interior cutting lines.  When the lines are hidden an area for a sentiment to be added is created in the center.

The preview screen shot comparing the two images was taken on a blank page.  This screen shot shows the "hidden" lines (they will change to very pale blue when they are hidden).  (To hide a line in Design Studio, select it by left clicking directly on the line - it will turn pink or red.  Then right click and choose "hide selected contour" from the bottom of the drop down menu).

I adapted the design to fit an A2 card nicely by altering the width to 3.75 inches and the height to 5 inches (this will give a 1/4 inch border around the design).

This preview shows the final design that I cut.

Here is the cut design on my nice new mat (every so often you just have to start a new one!).  For an intricate design like this I use multi-cut 2 to get a clean cut.  In Design Studio you set multi-cut under the Preferences menu - you can choose 2, 3 or 4 times.

 I cut the design in Core'dinations gemstone cardstock in a pale yellow called "citrine."  The purple base card is textured Bazzill cardstock.

The newly created center area is perfect for adding a sentiment and some embellishments or a stamped image.  I cut the "hello" with the Cuttlebug "Everyday Greetings" embossing and die set.  I tried some DCWV glitter cardstock (on the right) but the shade was a bit too pale so I then cut the sentiment from my new Core'dinations glitter cardstock in a purple called "Elegance."  This glitter cardstock is very sparkly and does not have the glossy shine that you find on the DCWV glitter cardstock.

 I added a couple of sparkly purple butterflies from the "Dream Garden" collection at Creative Charms - you can see the various butterflies and flowers they offer at this LINK.

 I think these little butterflies are so pretty with the sparkle of the gems on their wings.

Here is one more view of the card.  There are so many variations possible using this concept.  If you make a card like this I'd love to see it!

I hope you have a great weekend - I am a bit behind on email and messages due to circumstances but will catch up by Monday...

Subscribe to Capadia Designs