Halloween Door Sign

Despite my trip to Pennsylvania, the hurricane and other distractions, I did manage to cut out the Trick or Treat sign and assemble it in time to hang it on the door for Halloween.

About a week and a half ago, I showed you this design that I adapted from the free pumpkin carving stencils on the Better Homes and Garden website (the original post is HERE).

image from Better Homes and Gardens website

It looks great on a pumpkin, but I thought it would be nice to add some layers and make it with paper.

I wanted to keep the odd shape and not mount it on a rectangular backing, so I added an extra shadow layer to create a five color design.

Here are all five cuts, ready to assemble.   I used cardstock from both K & Company and Core'dinations.

The cuts were easy to assemble and with five layers of cardstock, the final sign is pretty sturdy.  I could have added a layer of chipboard to make it even stronger but I thought it was thick enough.

I had considered using some glittered cardstock but I didn't like the shades of the colors I had on hand.  I also like the varying textures in the printed cardstocks since there are so many layers.  I added lots of purple gems in several different shades to make the sign sparkle.

I think the bat is cute with his eyes looking up at the top of the sign.  I used different colors and sizes of gems on the stars.

Some sheer purple ribbon adhered to the back makes a hanger for the sign.

I fastened the ribbon to the same hook as the leaf wreath on my door and I was ready for the trick-or-treaters.

Here are two of my little friends collecting their candies!

New Cricut Cartridge available now

The Holiday Frames and Tags Cricut cartridge, exclusive to Creative Memories, is available to order starting today.  This cartridge is a limited edition and will be available while supplies last or until January 1, 2013.  If you don't have a local consultant and would like to order this cartridge, I'd be happy to help you with any questions.  You can order from my website HERE and have the cartridge shipped to your address. 

You can see the "look book" for the cartridge HERE or go to THIS POST from last month where I shared screen shots of all of the cartridge contents.  I'll have some samples to post soon - maybe tomorrow.

Now that it is November it's time to get busy on holiday projects - there are less than eight weeks until Christmas!  I'll bet you can guess what I have been designing - if you said more snowflakes, you'd be right...now I need to do some test cuts...


Since I wasn't able to post yesterday until late in the day, I will wait until tonight to draw the winner for the October "Scrap Pink" giveaway to allow time to for you to comment on that post.  I'll post the winner here tomorrow.

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Card Sketches and Digital Cards

Today I tried to make some plans for upcoming projects.  I do not usually make sketches before I create a card or layout.  I was using my CM StoryBook Creator software and I decided to try to do a few "fillable" card designs.  I could either use these as sketches or plan and print the final cards or toppers using digital paper and embellishments.

 Here is the first card sketch along with the "recipe" and the measurements of the various pieces.  If I use this as a fillable template I don't have to worry about the measurements or cutting until the full topper is ready to print.

There are so many variations with just a few elements in the design.  Of course, sketches are just starting points so more elements could be added or the layout could be changed.

 Here is a second sketch or "fillable" template  The elements are grouped but I can ungroup them and then change the paper, colors and sentiment.

I did a couple of trial version for this sketch as well.

I may start keeping a file with a collection of these so I can make quick cards.  These are just a few super simple designs.  If you have any questions on how to do this let me know and I will do a more detailed tutorial.

It was a quiet Sunday.  I am still trying to get rid of the last of this cold and, unfortunately, my husband seems to have caught it now.  Eventually we will be normal again!  I did catch up with some but not all of my emails and comments/questions.  If you have been waiting for a reply, please go ahead and email me again in case I missed your message - thanks!

Century Studios (shop hours sign in vinyl)

Sometimes it can be very handy to have a Cricut crafter in the family! My brother and his partner have a wonderful shop in the Twin Cities. They create Tiffany reproduction lamps, custom stained glass windows and other stained glass art. After 20 years in Minneapolis, they have moved the shop to St. Paul. Along with all of the other work involved in renovating the new shop and moving the business to a new home, there are the little details that need attending to - such as posting the store hours on the door.

After a local sign shop quoted over $60 to make the lettering for the door, my brother asked if this was something I could do. I told him that my Cricut and I could do almost anything....(well, a lot of things anyway...) and that I could easily cut him some vinyl lettering for the store door.



The plan was to post the hours on the front door - in an area about six inches square. I looked through my font cartridges and decided that the "opposite" font on "Opposites Attract" had a bit of an "Arts and Crafts" feel to it. I set about laying out the sign information on my mat.



The grids made it easy to get the size and positioning right. I quickly had my design done. I wanted to cut the letters and numbers so they could be stuck to the inside of the door window and read from outside the shop. This meant I needed to have the sticky side of the vinyl "on top." So I needed to flip my design.



If you are working with letters and numbers and you try to flip them, your words won't make sense. You can see in the top example - from the outside of the shop this would say "SROUH." To get the letters to read correctly after flipping, you need to enter them on the keyboard in backwards order. Then, when they are flipped, they will be in the correct order, as you can see above.



Here you can see the screen shot of my final design (well nearly final - I did go back and add two little dashes in the phone number).



I use medium pressure, medium speed and blade depth 4 to "kiss cut" the vinyl - cutting cleanly through the vinyl but leaving the backing paper intact. After the cut was completed, I "weeded" it by removing everything but the letters and numbers of the design.



Above you can see the vinyl that was removed by "weeding" the image. The centers of some of the letters and numbers were also removed. In this photo the vinyl is "sticky side up."



Next, I applied transfer tape to the weeded design. Transfer tape is extremely helpful for a project like this where everything needs to stay lined up perfectly.



Here you can see how the design looks when you lift the transfer tape. The side that you see is the sticky side that will adhere to the inside of the glass door window. You use the transfer tape to "carry" the letters to the place where you want to install them and then stick them to the surface and burnish them on, carefully pulling the tape away at an angle.



I sent the lettering to St. Paul and the shop door is now complete with the relevant information posted and easy to read. The cost of the small piece of vinyl I used was far less than the $60 quote from the sign shop - and I feel like I contributed in a small way to the new shop. I wish them much success in the new location!

If you live in the Twin Cities area and happen to be interested in this type of artwork, you may want to check out the shop sometime. Here is a LINK to the Century Studios website and here is a LINK to the blog.

Boston Marathon signs

Tomorrow (April 20th) is the Boston Marathon. We spent today showing our guests around the area and, of course, we visited the Old North Bridge. The parking lot was full of cars and there were people speaking many different languages in the park. People come from all over the world to see this historical site.



There are a lot of reenactors who participate in the weekend activities - including this "Redcoat" (who had his picture taken many times today!).



I realized that I didn't show you a picture of the actual Old North Bridge in yesterday's post, so I took this photo today. Of course the bridge has been rebuilt a number of times over the years but it has been made to look like the original bridge.



We saw one "patriot farmer" with an antique pitchfork that was actually made from a cluster of tree roots.



Our guests posed in front of the monument I showed you yesterday. I wonder how many photos are taken at this spot - I know I am personally responsible for a few dozen!



Here is the incredible chocolate cake we had for dessert at our cook-out - we figured Liz needed "fuel" for the marathon run!



Our runner with her official bib number for the marathon. I think it looks like a lucky number - after all there are a seven and a three involved!



So, finally, here is the Cricut part of this post! When Liz registered yesterday, there were lots of these supporter signs given out. We needed to personalize ours so we can cheer her on tomorrow. The marathon route passes directly in front of the church some of our family members attend in Wellesley, so we will stay there to watch the runners go by. This is about the halfway point on the course.



I cut the words from Wall Pops vinyl and stuck them on the signs. I used the Cuttin Up cartridge for the eye-catching and lively font. Since the letters are vinyl, they will be fine even if we get rain (the latest predictions seem to indicate that it may only be overcast with the rain waiting until later in the day so our fingers are crossed).



Cuttin Up even has the #1 blue ribbon and the "You're The Best" cuts which were perfect for the signs. When I cut vinyl, I set the blade depth at 4 and the speed and pressure at medium which is ideal - the blade cuts the vinyl but not the backing paper so it is easy to take the letters off the paper and place them on your sign or wall.

We wish Liz good luck for her run and a safe and speedy finish!