Mother's Day Card

 Good morning.  If you are an email subscriber, this post will arrive later than usual.  Blogger was doing some maintenance and I couldn't put the post up late last night as I normally do. I didn't want to post this card until after it was received since my mother-in-law reads my blog.  This card could easily be used for any occasion - just change the sentiment.  I used some more of the flowers shapes that filled up my mat when I showed how to make the 10 petal flowers in THIS POST.

This flower was made with five 1 1/2 inch flowers (one for the base and four folded) and one 3/4 inch flower for the center.  The center is a Gradient Gem Brad from Creative Charms.

 

I placed one of the four inch flowers on the front of the card with six of the petals showing and folded it around to the back for an asymmetrical look.  I used a skewer to curl the edges of the large petals so they lift slightly from the card surface.

Scor-tape holds the dimensional flower to the large flower securely.

The card base is kraft cardstock.  I added some white pen stitching around the edges.  An ivory cardstock mat with the top and bottom edges punched with the Martha Stewart Floral Lace punch provides a place to write a message inside.

I added another piece of ivory cardstock to the left side of the card and attached it at the sides and base to make a pocket for a gift card.

I used this extra piece of cardstock which is larger than a gift card just to show the pocket (I didn't have the card when I took the photos).

The sentiment stamp is from the Hero Arts Celebrate Everyday set.

We will be leaving to attend our younger son's graduation later today - cross your fingers for good weather this weekend!  I won't be online much so please be patient if you send an email - I'll catch up next week.

link to discussion Day #3 - Time to Craft

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Some Smaller Flowers

Once you start making the layered flowers it is hard to stop!  I decided to try a version that would be suitable for a card.  If you missed the first post about making these flowers you can read all of the details at THIS POST.

I had all of the extra flowers in various sizes that I cut to fill up the mat so I tried a few more variations on the folded flower - and made a card with the "leftovers."

I used a two inch flower as the base, four 1 1/2 inch flowers and a 3/4 inch center.

I added adhesive to the base flower and offset the petals of the four folded flowers as I placed them in the adhesive.

 I used a butterfly brad from Creative Charms to connect all of the layers.

This is an A2 card and I cut the red layer at 4 x 5 1/4 inches.  I wanted to use up the left over paper from the flower cuts so I trimmed a 1/4 inch strip from the edge of the sheet to create some paper ribbon.  The ribbon is about one inch from the top and one inch from the left side of the card topper.

Scor-tape placed directly over the brad ends will help to keep the flower secure.

 I think the little butterfly adds a lot to the simple card design.  I also like the way the two different papers show more when you use smaller flowers for the folded section.

The "thanks" sentiment is cut with the Cuttlebug combo die "With Gratitude" (this is one of my all time favorite Cuttlebug dies).

There are just a couple of days left to play along in the Take Out Box challenge.  Please go to THIS POST to see the details and the projects that have been posted so far.

link to discussion Day #3 - Time to Craft

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National Scrapbooking Day

 

The sun was so bright shining in our kitchen window Friday afternoon - I had to grab a quick photo to share.  I will tell you more about what is in the vase another day.  I thought the colors were so pretty in the strong sunlight - almost like stained glass.

Today is National Scrapbooking Day.  There are events planned all over the internet and in local stores.  I have events planned morning , afternoon and evening - and none of them involve scrapbooking.  It is just a very busy weekend with our town's spring recycling day in the morning, an Eagle Scout ceremony this afternoon, and a musical  (The Secret Garden) that we are attending tonight.  I hope that some of you will be able to participate in crafty activities.  Have fun!

I made some more flowers - just trying out different methods of adhering them and varying the number of petals in the circles.

I decided to use a ten petal flower which was the size used for the bouquet I received.  I found one on the Forever Young cartridge (this was only the second time I have used that cartridge!).  I filled up an entire mat in Design Studio to make good use of my paper.  The key pieces are, once again, 5 - 4 inch flowers and one each cut at 3 inches, 2 inches and 1 inch.

The folding and assembly are just the same as I described yesterday.  You will have to fold the center flowers with a crease or at least a bend in one petal.  You can also add some glue dots to hold the folded layers together so the flowers can be "fluffed" a little.  

I used a punched one inch circle instead of the smallest flower layer for the red and white flower above.  The brad is a five petal flower that works perfectly on this shape.

You can find a nearly identical flower on the Serenade cartridge if you don't have Forever Young.  My friend Susan used this flower to make her version of the bouquet.  There are probably more ten petal flowers if you look carefully at your cartridges.

You can also make your own flower with ten petals using the oval on the George cartridge or another cartridge. The degrees of rotation are 72, 144, 216 and 288. To resize the flower, draw an imaginary box around the shapes by dragging your mouse across the mat and then hold down the control key while using the lower right handle to resize.

Once the pieces are cut, these flowers go together very quickly.  It took me far longer to write up the directions than it did to actually put the flower together!  I hope you have been able to make some more flowers and will keep trying lots of variations.

It would normally be the start of a new Discussion Day today, but since so many people have lots of plans for the weekend,  I am going to let the current question run a bit longer and change things out next week.  Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all who are mothers!

link to discussion Day #3 - Time to Craft

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Pretty Pink Purse (and a few tips)

I recently stumbled across some lovely faux leather paper in pearlized colors from American Crafts (in Marshall's of all places!).  I wanted to give it a try and  I thought it was perfect for making a paper purse to use as a table favor or gift holder.

I have been trying to use some of the cartridges that I purchased in the Black Friday sales last year, you know - the ones I "had to have" that have been sitting idly on the shelf.  One of these was "Forever Young" which is an older cartridge I didn't get at first because didn't think I needed such a "girly" cartridge.

I decided to make one of the purses and  today I'd like to share a few tips I have for cutting and putting together bags and boxes from your Cricut cartridges.

I knew that my paper was only 8/12 x 11 so I used Design Studio to figure out the largest bag I could cut.  I placed a rectangle on the second page of the file and adjusted it to be 8 1/2 x 11 and then I added the purse to the mat and sized it to fit with a little room to spare.  I set the paper at the 1/2 inch mark from both the top and the side to avoid any issues with the "uncuttable" area of the mat.  I used the preview to see exactly where to place the purse on the mat.

One of my pet peeves with the cartridges is the "tick marks" they cut to indicate the folds.  For a regular card they are nonsensical - we all know how to fold a piece of paper in half!

On the boxes and purses they make a very untidy edge that is not attractive.  You can see the edges in the sample purse I cut from scrap paper above.

I don't like my pretty papers to be messed up with all of these extra lines.  So I use Design Studio or the Gypsy to eliminate all of the interior cuts (known as webbing) with one simple step - just check the weld box. 

In the case of the purses on Forever Young you will also need to use "hide contour" to eliminate the word that is designed to cut into the front. 

The "webbing" lines will not cut when weld is checked because they are not completed cuts.   The word "fancy" in this case is one continuous line and would cut if it was not hidden, similar to the way the eyes on one of the animal faces will cut even though you lose some of the detail lines when you weld to make a shaped card (I do have a way to work around that problem which you can read about HERE and HERE).

I then use my sample cut with the marks to help me see where to score the purse to fold it correctly.  These score lines will be clean and neat with no cuts.

To assemble purses and boxes, I use a strong tape like Scor-Tape.  The red liner tape also works very well for boxes.  First you connect the flap to the side.

Line it up carefully for a neat edge like this.  Remember, these adhesives are very aggressive so it is important to get it right the first time!

Next you fold in the flaps to make the bottom of the bag.  First fold in the long side with the "U" shaped cut-out.

Next, fold in the two side flaps and be sure the bumps catch underneath the first side.

Finally, tuck in the last long side so it looks like this.

I was concerned that the bottom of the purse might not be sturdy enough for some heavy candy to be added so I cut an extra piece of cardstock to add as a reinforcement on the base.

I used Scor-Tape again to attach this piece to the base of the purse.

I also cut a strip of paper at 1/2 inch x 10 inches to use for a handle or strap.  I added about an inch long piece of Scor-Tape to each end.

Then I secured the handle inside the bag to get a strong hold.

The cartridge design has tab and slit closure and these can wear out quickly.  So I added some small magnet pieces to close the flap.  These were cut from some leftover magnet frame material I had at home.

I matched up the two small pieces making sure that the polarity was correct so the magnet would work and then used Scor-Tape once again  to secure the magnet to the purse.

First I attached the two pieces together to the top flap and then I removed the protective covering on the Scor-Tape and folded the flap down to stick the second magnet in the correct position.

 

You can buy "prettier" round punched magnets but these worked fine (and I had the frame on hand).

The decorations for the bag are these vintage jewels and a white flared flower from Creative Charms.  They give a nice sheen and sparkle to the bag.

I hope you picked up a few tips for making very neat and professional looking bags and boxes.  I think I'll try making a few of the other purses on the Forever Young cartridge and use them for gifts - or just sit them on a shelf to look pretty!

I am off today on another excursion to IKEA - and hoping the items I want are still there!

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