Egg Shaped Card adapted from Free Silhouette Studio Shape

Every Tuesday, there is a free shape offered through the Silhouette online store accessed through the free Silhouette Studio software.  The shape is available for one week so there is plenty of time to log in to the software and add it to your collection. 

This week the free shape was this stitched egg candy pouch.  I thought it could easily be turned into a card so I made a few changes to the design.  I ungrouped the elements and then released the compound path to separate the egg shape from the stitching holes.

I mirrored the egg shape to the left and added a small oval at the edge between the two eggs, then welded all three shapes to produce the card base.  I adjusted the shape slightly to make the an A2 size.  To create the ring of "frosting," I grouped the remaining stitching circles and added a contour of .150.  Then I selected both the holes and the outline and made a compound path.  I stretched the shape slightly to fit the slightly resized card.

I used the Core'dinations Gemstone cardstock for all of the pieces.  It comes in such lovely spring colors and the pearly shine is perfect for Easter items.  I remember the large chocolate eggs we used to get in our Easter baskets usually had a ring of white frosting and some flowers so I added three sparkled flowers from Creative Charms in white, yellow and purple.

I put the letters and background of the sentiment on a straight line when I added them to the card.  The original design has them angling up to the right a bit.  I probably should have changed the angle of the cut on the mat, turning it 10 or 11 degrees to have the cut line up with the linen texture in the cardstock.  If you were using a solid color flat cardstock, it wouldn't matter.

I decided to leave well enough alone - it's probably one of those things that most people wouldn't notice!
(If I cut another card from this cardstock, I probably will straighten it - that's just the way I am...).

I liked the look with the holes in the center of the border, however, you can easily omit the holes to get the look in this screen shot.  It's fun to play around with the alternatives - just start over if you end up with something that doesn't appeal to you!

I am happy to share this simple .studio file - you can download it by clicking on the link below.

Easter Egg Shaped Card

It's great to have the ability to change these free shapes - it makes them even more useful and fun to use.

In other news - I actually used my Bind-It-All for the first time in ages.  My little neighbor had a school project (a comic book style book report) and she needed to keep the pages together.  She was very interested in the way the Bind-It- All worked and loved choosing some ribbons to add to the binding.  I asked her if she thought anyone else would put their book together this way and she said she didn't think so because, "not everybody has a Miss Diane on their street!" 

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Easter Egg cards (from the past...)

Happy Monday!  Well, it is not a particularly happy Monday for me due to "technical difficulties."  I am visiting my Dad for a couple of days and my laptop power supply cord has stopped working!  This means that I can't post my items for Scrappy-Go-Lucky today since I was working on a review full of screen shots and I can't duplicate these on my Dad's Mac computer.

It is too late for me to change course and post a different project (I post at night for the next day's morning email) so I will once again give you a few links to refer to until I get the situation sorted out (or get back home to my desktop PC!).

The cards at the top of this post are some that I designed a couple of years ago.  A lot you have started reading my blog more recently so you may not have seen them - they are quick and easy to make if you still are looking for Easter card ideas.

The post about this card is HERE.

The post about this card is HERE.

The links are the old 4shared links since I can't re-upload right now to the new service I use for instant downloads.  I don't think you will have any problems with these - you just have to wait a bit for the download.

The swirly egg card uses just the Wild Card cartridge and the pink card uses the Beyond Birthdays and Storybook cartridges.  These both take advantage of "hide selected contour" and you could try something similar with some of the newer cartridges.

I will take this power failure as a sign that I should slow down and enjoy visiting my Dad - but I might be able to post a little project for you tomorrow if I can remember how to upload photos to his computer (and if I have the right cables with me)!

Don't forget to check out the Discussion Day link and add your thoughts if you would like to join in.  I hope you have a great day!

link to Discussion Day 1 - Why do you craft?

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Scalloped Easter Egg Card (more details)

Today is my first day as Guest Designer for the Everyday Cricut blog.  You may be arriving here after reading the Simple Card Monday post.  If you are starting on my blog, you should hop over to Everyday Cricut first to see the card and the video explaining how to create the shaped card in Design Studio.  (Here is a LINK to the post).  Then come back here for the additional information, the second video and the file.




There are many ways to combine the eggs and the layers for different looks

You can layer the gemstone side over the plain reverse side,

...or layer the solid side over the shiny gemstone surface.

 I decided to use the gemstone side for all three layers (card base, solid blackout and decorative top layer).

 

The cardstock is a bit wider than 12 inches to allow for the printed label on the front.  After I cut my first decorative egg and solid layer, I flipped the paper to cut the second set.  I aligned the corner to the top left and loaded the mat from the opposite direction. (I flipped the cardstock so the egg shapes would both be cut from the same side of the sheet of cardstock - I did check to be sure that the eggs were symmetrical so my layers would work properly).

I enjoyed using this lovely gemstone cardstock by Core'dinations and I wanted to make the best use of each 12 x 12 sheet.  I cut all of these card pieces and then I looked at my cardstock and figured out how to trim it to create additional projects.

I trimmed the side with the two egg cutouts (left side in photo above) at about 4.25 inches from the edge (just far enough to get a straight edge).  Then I cut another strip at 4.25 x 12 inches and trimmed one inch from the end to create a vertical A2 card base.  I trimmed a two inch strip from the areas below the egg cutouts and trimmed the cutout from the egg with the overall design (with the flowers attached) at 5.25 inches to use as a frame.

These are the "scrap" pieces left after trimming - you can punch some shapes from the solid areas before discarding the scraps.

Here is the link to download the file.  There are endless variations possible with the colors and patterns you choose for the various layers of this card.  I hope you have fun making it.

Scalloped Egg Shaped Card

Simple Easter Egg Shaped Card with Design Studio

(This post originally appeared on the Everyday Cricut blog where I was the Guest Designer for the week of March 8-12, 2010)

Good Monday Morning! This is Diane and I am so happy to join you this week as Guest Designer. Some of you may know me already from my blog Capadia Designs. I am looking forward to getting to know many more of you. I want to thank Joy and Melanie again for asking me to share some of my designs and projects this week. I also want to thank all of you for the very warm welcome you have given me already in the comments on Joy's post introducing me!

So today is "Simple Card Monday" and I have a simple shaped card created with the Easter mini cartridge by using the Design Studio program. (For those of you who are not familiar with my work, I have to give you fair warning - I am an avid user of the Design Studio program and not entirely sure if I remember how to use the Cricut by actually pushing the keypad buttons!)

For this card I used various colors of "gemstone" cardstock by Core'dinations. My local Joann's carries this cardstock and I watch for the sales when you can buy cardstock at a great price (often 5 for 99 cents) and stock up. The cardstock has a lovely sheen and cuts beautifully in the Cricut.

The "right" side of the cardstock is textured and shiny - the reverse side is a smooth vibrant solid. You can see both sides in this photo.

I kept the cards very simple to show off the lovely cardstock. If you want to "dress it up" a bit you could add some gems or Stickles glitter glue.

I adhered the decorative layers to the solid eggs using my Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive. This is my favorite adhesive for small or intricate cuts. I am a Creative Memories consultant and keep active so I can satisfy my addiction to this adhesive, the tools, the digital scrapbooking program, StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 and wonderful digital content.

Since the card is so simple, I didn't think you needed to watch a video of me assembling the layers. Instead, I have made a short video showing you how to design a shaped card in Design Studio.

If you are not familiar with Design Studio or find it difficult to use, I am happy to do whatever I can to help you. There are many tutorials on my blog and I do my best to answer all of the Design Studio questions I receive from readers. I also share my .cut files so that you can download them and see how I put things together - or simply cut the projects I have designed.

I like my shaped cards to be able to stand up on their own - this card will stand nicely since the two lowest scallops are nearly even.

I cut eggs in a lot of different colors so I could make several variations of the card and use some of the "extra" eggs for other projects. I always try to make the most of my paper by planning out my cuts and saving the "leftovers" to use later.

The .cut file for this card is available on my blog. There is also another video in which I give a "guided tour" of the actual cut file and explain a few things about how I use the program to help me make the best use of my paper. Here is the LINK to my blog.

Thanks so much for checking in today. Don't forget that there are great prizes this week (as there are every week on Everyday Cricut!). Click HERE to get all of the details on how you can win - Good Luck!

Some more information about Card Sketches....

Several people have asked me to explain more about making card sketches.  I do this in two ways - using Design Studio or my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 software.  Each has some advantages and disadvantages. 

You can use Design Studio or the Gypsy to plan a card (or a page layout) and determine the correct size for all of your cuts.  By working on the virtual mat you can avoid cuts that are too large or small  - you won't waste any paper and all of your cuts will be "just right."

In Design Studio you can do color previews of the full card but it is a slow process.  This card took eight mats (plus a preview page) to set up.  You need to plan ahead and figure out how many layers of color you need since each mat will only preview in one color.  It can be very fiddly to get everything lined up correctly and then move the layers to different mats so they will preview in the correct colors.  Design Studio will preview the images top to bottom from the first mat so you have to be able to visualize all of the layers in the proper order as you set up the mats

You can put some information on the mat tabs but I find it easier to take a screen shot and then add the notes on the screen shot.

 

When I use StoryBookCreator Plus 3.0 (Creative Memories) to plan the card, I have the option of changing the color of each element in the design while they are all on the same page.

I can group the entire design and then copy and paste and edit the second design to try variations (such as splitting the scalloped ribbon band and moving the pieces to the top and bottom of the card. 

 

I can also use digital paper to fill in the various elements.  In Design Studio I am limited to solid colors and I can't easily save any custom colors that I create.

I do not have a digital library of the Cricut shapes to work with in the StoryBook program.  I can take screen shots and create them but this is a slow and tedious process.  I can use elements from the program to represent the types of cuts I might use but I will still have to work with the items in the Design Studio program to get the sizing to be perfect.

When I make a "sketch" or card plan in Design Studio I will have created a file that I can use to cut the elements of the card.  If I create the sketch in the StoryBook program, I can be very specific about the sizes but I will have to "transcribe" the measurements into my Design Studio file.

For either program, It is important to understand how to create precise sizing and placement on the mat.

In Design Studio, you can enter the values in the Shape Properties Box.  This screen shot is for the first mat layer on the Easter card.

 

In the StoryBook Program, you select the element you want to work with and then right click and choose "Properties" from the bottom of the drop down menu - this screen will pop up. This screen shot is for the second mat layer on the card.

For both methods you need to first create a rectangle in the size of your card as a base (4.25 x 5.5 inches for an A2 card) and then work on adding additional elements of your choice.  In Design Studio you can use any rectangle to create the base that represents the card.  You will not be cutting this from the program but will simply cut an 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of cardstock in half and fold it to form your card base.

Please let me know if you have more questions and I will try to help.  There are definite advantages to working out your designs on the computer, but if it gives you difficulty there is nothing wrong with the" pencil and paper" method - just have fun creating!