Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought I'd refer back to a couple of posts from last February just in case you need a last minute Valentine.  These designs were made using Paper Pups -  a cartridge I had for a long time before I used it.  If you have this cartridge, don't be fooled into thinking it is for pets only - there are many images and words that you can use for all sorts of occasions.

The posts where you can find these designs are HERE and HERE.  The first post includes a lesson on using "Hide Selected Contour" when you copy and paste a design that has some contours hidden.

I have some more designs that are new but I haven't had a chance to test cut them.  I will share when I can but right now I am focusing on giving our neighbors the help they need after the fire that destroyed their home.

Don't forget to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog to have a chance to win one of three "Love Struck" cartridges - the winners will be announced on Monday.  Please note, you must leave the comments on the Cuttlebug blog, not here, to be entered to have a chance to win a cartridge.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

A Whole Lotta Love - Paper Pups designs for cards

While I was experimenting with my "new" Paper Pups cartridge I made a variety of card topper designs - very simple but fun for Valentine's Day coming up. I thought that this would be a quick blog entry today since I did all of them in the same file as the "Love, Love, Love" title from yesterday's post. However, I decided that it would be a good idea to divide them into two separate files for A2 and 5 x 7 cards and to move the designs to the top half of the mat so they could be cut by baby bug owners. All of this took a bit of time, but I think it will make it easier for you. If you have an Expression, and don't want to wear out the top of your mat too fast, remember that you can flip the mat around and load it with the arrow facing toward you instead of the machine to balance the wear and tear.



Here are all the variations for the A2 cards. The three row open heart mesh and the three row love in a heart mesh are not adjustable but were sized to fit the card comfortably.



Above is the three row open heart mesh - some of the hearts are flipped so it is not possible to do this as an adjustable file.



Above is the mesh of "love in a heart" in graduated sizes. This is very delicate but did cut cleanly, just take your time as you remove it from the mat.



I decided to have some fun with glitter and this design. First I ran a piece of 5.5 x 4.25 inch red cardstock through my Xyron.



Then I gently placed the mesh on the adhesive. I have had my Xyron a long time and I think my refill cartridge has deteriorated a bit - the adhesive is not perfectly even (it is a bit hard to see but remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it for a better look).



I poured Martha Stewart glitter all over the card front - a big sparkly mess! It is a good idea to use cardstock in a color close to the glitter in case the coverage is not perfect - having the same color in the background will help to camouflage any missed spots.



Here is the card topper after some shaking to get off all of the excess glitter. I didn't get the mesh stuck down perfectly the first time, so I went back and added a bit of glue here and there to try to get it stuck down and then I reglittered. I am not so sure if I like this but it was worth a try!



Above and below you can see the various cuts for 5 x 7 cards (they would not all fit on a single 12 x 12 page to photograph). I did not actually cut the separate rows of "love in a heart" but they are in the file for you.



The design with the large "love" is adjustable and is sized to fit the 5 x 7 card nicely in the file.



Below is the open heart mesh - for the 5 x 7 size I used four rows of seven hearts. Once again, I could not make this adjustable because some of the hearts are flipped.



For the delicate "love in a heart" mesh (which is also expanded to four rows and seven hearts across) the cut was successful until the very last heart! Here you can see it on the mat. The paper must have lifted a bit and the cut did not completely finish. This is also not adjustable but sized for a 5 x 7 card.



Here you can see the cut on a card - I think it is one of those "happy accidents" and I like the idea of having a solid heart in the corner. I will cut one and layer it on top of the cut to "rescue" this card.



Have fun with these - tomorrow I will be posting the newest medallions which combine with some of the files I have already shared for some very interesting effects! Here is another sneak peek!



Lots of Love A2 Card Fronts

Lots of Love 5 x 7 Card Fronts

Love is all you need!

I got my Expression from ACMoore in a bundle including Plantin Schoolbook, Accent Essentials, Stretch Your Imagination and Paper Pups. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had never opened my Paper Pups cartridge(!) I kept thinking that it was cute but I didn't really need it since I don't have a dog and perhaps I would trade it with someone for another cartridge at some point...

Well, I followed my own advice about really looking through the carts to see what is available on them (long overdue in this case) and decided I was crazy not to have opened it sooner! There is a lot of "doggy" content but there a lots of other whimsical images and phrases that are great for making "non-doggy" designs.

Today's post is "Part One" and there are some more related designs I will post tomorrow. This file is adjustable but I need to explain something about the "hide contour" feature for you so you won't get frustrated.

Normally with my adjustable files you can just copy and paste the design and resize it to suit your project. Here is the wrinkle...



Since I used the "hide selected contour" feature the pasted design will suddenly have the word "Puppy" in front of the second "Love" and you need to hide it again. However, if you follow the procedure I explained a few days ago, selecting the lines you want to hide by left clicking on the exact line and then right clicking, here is what you will see



The "Hide Selected Contour" feature is not available. There is an easy way around this - just close the file and then reopen it



Now when you right click after selecting the line you want to hide with a left click, the option is available for you to choose.



After hiding the outline of the word "Puppy," you will need to click three more times on each of the centers of the "Ps" to hide them as well. When all of these are hidden you can check the cut by previewing on a blank page to be sure the preview shows the cut you want to make.



My original design was for a title across a 12 x 12 page as you can see above. The file also includes a cut for the same design sized to fit on a 5 x 7 card - as seen below. If you cut directly from those pages you will not need to "rehide" the word "Puppy" - it is only a problem if you copy and paste to make a differently sized design for your purposes.



You can try other sizes - when I adjusted it for an A2 card I did not like the look.

I wonder if the Beatles tune has been running through your mind while reading this - I certainly have been humming it as I type!

Love, Love, Love Title or Card Front (A)