Snow ATCs for February

The theme for my small ATC group this month was "snow."  I usually think of shades of blue to go with snow themes, however, since it was Valentine's month, I decided to use pink and red for a change.

  

I started with this image on the Graphically Speaking cartridge.  This is one of my favorite cartridges - there is so much variety and lots of unique cuts that are not repetitive with other cartridges.  It came out at the same time as Storybook and while Storybook was an early favorite, I think a lot of people were pleasantly surprised but the versatility of Graphically Speaking.

I have used this image for an A2 card before - here is a LINK to the post.

 

  

Artist Trading Cards must be 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  I wanted to layer this image on the base card so I set the slider bar for 3 1/4 inches.  Then I set the width to 2 1/4 inches.  In the image above you can see the original square image and my adapted image.

 

  

The design has some contour lines around the edges which I hid using "hide selected contour."  I also decided to hide the snowflake cut out.

 

  

I created eight of the ATC tops.  Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to copy and paste an image with contours hidden and have them remain hidden.  So I needed to hide seven lines eight times (it didn't take long).   I previewed the cuts by placing a full sheet square in a contrasting color on a second mat.

 

  

I cut the tops in pale pink textured cardstock.

I used a photo I took last winter for the backs of the cards.  This is a holly bush in our back yard covered with snow.  I brought the photo into my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 software to edit, resize and add the words.  I worked at 5 x 7 to make it easier - this is exactly twice the size of the ATC so I know that it will shrink proportionately for printing.

 When my image was ready, I saved it to my desktop as a JPEG and then imported it into my Creative Memories Memory Manager 3.0 software for printing. This program has standard package layouts which makes it very easy to print a sheet of 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch images.

Here you can see the sheet of eight ATC backs that I printed on matte photo paper (8 1/2 x 11 inches).

I trimmed the images just a tiny bit inside the printed area to be sure that they would not be seen on the front side of the ATC.  Then I inked the edges with red ink to hide the white contrast against the red base card.

I cut small pieces of white glitter cardstock to fill in the window behind the letters.  It looks very sparkly and snowy.  I didn't want to add the weight and bulk of a full glitter layer to the cards.

I carefully placed the card topper in the snow Cuttlebug embossing folder from the Oh My Crafts exclusive holiday bundle.  I planned the placement of the embossing to fill the corner where the snowflake cut had been in the original design.

  

 Here are all of the components of my ATC ready to assemble.

 

  

 I used my Precision Point Adhesive to adhere the embossed topper to the red card base, sandwiching the glitter layer in the window opening.

 

  

Here are the six cards - front...

 and back.  I have filled in the number of each ATC and signed them on the back. 

  

Here is one more view of the front 

  

and the back.

After I had packaged and mailed the ATCs, I realized that I hadn't added the small pink gem to the cards.  I guess I will be sending them individually to my swapping partners so they can stick them on if they would like to "fix" my mistake..

The moral of the story - try not to craft when you are suffering with a bad head cold and not thinking sraight!

I wasn't able to get the ATCs for my large group done in time and will do them and send with the next monthly group for March.  Tomorrow it will be two weeks since the fire that destroyed our neighbor's home.  Thank you so much to those of you who have sent cards to cheer them and amuse the children.  If you wanted to send a card and need the information here is a LINK to the blog entry with the details - just scroll to the end of the post.

A bit of Serendipity while Sorting

Today I spent some time trying to tidy up my scrap studio.  It was much too cold here to go out since I didn't really "have" to do anything (we still have plenty of leftovers to finish!).  I need to do a lot of reorganizing so it will probably take me several days to get it all done.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I hate to waste paper and I save and try to use as many of the "offcuts" from my designs as I possibly can.  As I was sorting things, I happened to put these two 12 x 12 sheets on top of each other - I really liked the way that they created an optical illusion sort of effect and I think I will use this for a background on a scrapbook page.

This photo shows the pages on a white background - the pink and blue combo could be fun for a baby shower layout with a modern twist!

Here is a LINK to the post where I explained how to cut a lot of small circles quickly and easily in Design Studio and here is a LINK to the post where I shared the file.  If you try this you will end up with offcuts to overlap.  The key is that the pages are turned in different directions so the cut spaces do not align but instead form the new pattern.  The original file uses the Graphically Speaking cartridge - one of the most useful "all around" cartridges in my collection.

I am working on something new - I can't wait to share in a few weeks!  I think you will like it......

Just a quick reminder - the Twisted Papers site is having an inventory clearance sale - 50% off until tomorrow (December 30th) at midnight PST.  Also, the great free downloadable  images that were offered in the "Countdown to Christmas"  will be taken off the home page on New Year's Day so don't miss your chance to try these out.  Here is a LINK to my post showing a card I made using some of the free downloads.  I was honored to be asked by the owners if they could share my card and a link to my directions on their site.  Fair Warning - there is so much to see on this site you will probably spend a long time there!

Sparkly Snow Cards

While I was working with the book cover material to decorate the Harvest Lanterns I posted yesterday, I had an idea for another project.  I would need clear book cover material to try this idea.  So, today we had to get new ink cartridges at Staples and, as usual, I checked out the clearance section.  Well, it must have been meant to be - in the clearance section there were rolls of clear bookcover material for only 50 cents!

I used this element from the Graphically Speaking cartridge.  It is designed to be a square image  but I used Design Studio to change the proportions for an A2 card topper.

Here you can see the changes I made - the original image is on the left.  There are some detail cuts in the original that I hid for my card topper so you need Design Studio to make this project since it is not possible to hide cutting lines on the Gypsy yet.

I made several trial cuts - in two sizes and two different cardstocks.  The top piece of lighter blue is Bazzill textured cardstock and the bottom piece is Coredinations "vintage" cardstock.  The second trial cut for each is slightly smaller than in the screenshot above - 3.75 x 5 inches.

I cut a piece of the bookcover material large enough to cover the cut out areas of the design.

I adhered the cut piece to the back of the card topper so the sticky side was exposed in the openings (it may be a bit hard to see in this photo but the areas behind the letters and snowflake are the sticky side of the bookcover material.

I then found this glitter that I bought last year after the holidays - it has a interesting texture and is coarse but very sparkly.

I dumped glitter all over the the exposed adhesive.  It is very fine and sticks to the adhesive backing easily.  I used my fingers to smooth down the glitter and then applied a second layer.

By rubbing on the glitter you can flatten the pieces so they stick securely to the adhesive.  You can feel the little bits standing up on end and they will flatten as you smooth over the area with your fingers.

I tried several variations for the cards - you can see them above.

For the first card I rounded the corners of the card base and added a dark blue layer below the light blue topper.  The sparkle of the glitter against dark blue is pretty but I thought it lost the "snow" effect.

For the other versions of the card where I added a dark layer below the topper, I inserted some white paper so the snow would look more like "real" snow.

This version uses the larger version of the topper directly on a dark blue base with the white paper liner between the two.

For this card I put the layer directly on a white card base so I didn't need an extra layer.

I think this is my favorite version - but I have a few more variations in mind to try...

Using some "leftovers"

After a long and frustrating couple of days trying to solve the "technical difficulties" that some people have had in viewing my videos, I have come to the conclusion that I just can't make it work for everyone using the programs I am currently using. Many people are able to watch the videos but there are just too many variations in computer systems and I can't seem to get it to work for everyone. I am looking into upgrading my software and changing the file format. I am hoping to be able to do this without spending a lot of money - wish me luck!

In the meanwhile, I really needed to get to my crafting space and make something!!! I do enjoy working on the computer but when you get to technical overload it is time for some "hands-on" paper therapy!



Remember these extra frame strips that were left from the Graphically Speaking cards I made for the card swap? (here is a LINK to that post) I told you I would save them to use on a future project - so I used a few today.



The photo above is of the full sheet remainder after cutting four card toppers per 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock. I also saved these sheets - they could be used for a full page layout or cut into pieces for use on cards - today I cut up one of the sheets.



First, I cut a portion of the scalloped edge to fit two sides on an A2 (5.5 x 4.25 inch) card (the right and lower edges). Then, I added white dots at the point of each scallop with my Uniball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen.



Next, I added two sections of the thin frame leftovers and also dotted these with my white pen. Black, red and white together always look "French" to me. I looked around to see what odds and ends of card stock or paper I had around. I found the perfect piece of black, white and glitter cardstock from a DCWV mat stack called "All Dressed Up."



Here is a closer view of the paper - the glitter centers to the flowers are already on the paper - no waiting for Stickles to dry on this card!

I will most likely add a small stamped or hand written greeting in the lower right corner using white ink. I haven't decided yet what I will use this card for so it will stay in my stash like this until I am ready to send it to someone.

It is fun to see what you can make with all of the bits of paper that could have ended up in the trash!

"Fabulous" card (if the shoe fits...)

I participated in a card swap recently. The only stipulation was that we had to use the Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge. This is an incredibly versatile cartridge full of lots of images and word art - it is on my list of favorites.



There are 50 jumbled words on this cartridge - I chose the word "fabulous" as my inspiration.



I used this scalloped frame - I really like the frame within a frame look. I have used this for other designs - you may remember this card from the holiday season.



(Here is a LINK to the post about this card and the file).




I also chose this shoe - there are so many great images on this cartridge!



Finally, I used the overlay for the details on the shoe.



I created a design combining the shoe, frame and the word "fabulous" - I did this as an adjustable design so I can use it for other sizes of cards. The cards I made were A2 size (or 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches).



There are thin "brackets" left over after cutting - of course I saved these! (Soon I will have to post some of the cards I make with these "leftovers").



I used the Design Studio program to help me decide on the colors and layers for the card topper. Here is the screen shot of the preview with my chosen colors. I like black and pink together and this was meant to be a "girly" sort of card.



Above is a photo of the finished card. I cut a rectangle of pale pink to add as a backdrop inside the inner frame. I cut these with a paper cutter, not the Cricut, to use my paper more efficiently.



I cut the overlay for the shoe from dark pink glitter cardstock - I cut twelve even though I needed only 10 cards. I like to have a few spares in case of cutting mishaps. When I cut glitter cardstock I use pressure at 4, blade depth 6 and multi-cut 2 times.



When I assembled the cards, I added a small "gem" for the shoe button.



I printed the insides of the cards with this sentiment - I have heard this saying in various forms many times and it always makes me smile! I used my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus program to set up the cards for printing.




Here is a close up of the sentiment.



Here are my twelve cards (ten to swap and two to spare), ready to package and send for swapping. I expect to receive the swap cards early next week and I am looking forward to seeing what the other swappers made.



We were also expected to do envelopes. I had plenty of this double-sided patterned paper by American Crafts. I used the pale pink on the card fronts and I liked the design for the inside of the envelopes. I made the envelopes using my Scor-Pal keeping the pale pink on the outside (there are excellent and easy-to-follow directions on the Scor-Pal site, here is a LINK to the page).



To make my envelopes a bit fancier, I punched the edge of the flap with the Martha Stewart cornice border punch.

This file is adjustable, but if you change the size you will need to resize the shoe overlay to fit. There are four pages at the beginning of the file which are each layer separated for testing color combinations in preview. These are not for cutting. The fifth and sixth pages are for cutting the shoe overlays and the framed design. They are set up for cutting multiples on a 12 x 12 mat, but you can either delete images or select one and copy and paste it to a new page if you want to make a single card. You can also change the mat size to 6 x 12 if you have the original Cricut or the Create.

(This file will be available until May 1, 2009)