Thinking of You.

Here's another card I made using the Cricut.  I used teh Home Decor cratridge to die-cut some flourishes from bright green paper from Die Cut with a View; which were then used as teh stem and vines for the flowers.  From teh same bright green paper I created leaves using teh Rose Leaf Hand Punch from Martha Stewart/E.K. Success.  The flowers are 3D glittered paper flowers from Martha Stewart/E.K. Success.  The text is a gold sticker from Stampendous, as are the lines around patterned Die Cut with a View background paper.

This is a simple example showing how to combine various techniques or media (die-cuts and stickers) to create a quick and beautiful card. 



Working with what you have!

Recently a friend asked why I hadn't done any new "Sizzix" die-cut cards.  My response was that I hadn't seen anything new that I really wanted, to which my friend replied "but don't you have a bunch of dies already?"  OK, I have to admit that I do have quite a feew (as well as a variety) of diesI've collected over the years from Sizzix and so I went back and took a look at them.  As a result I came up with my first two fall/Thanksgiving card for 2011 using mostly "Sizzlets" dies.  I'm sure; however; that by now many of these dies have all been "retired" as is so often the story with things I hold dear.

The first card uses leaves die-cut from pale green, tan and burgundy paper using the leaf  Sizzlets dies from the Thanksgiving set and then edged with ink in darker versions of the paper color. The vines are from the large Sizzlets Decorative Flourish set cut from tan colored paper and lightly colored with brown ink. The pumpkin is  from the Thanksgiving set and was die-cut twice: once from orange paper and once from olive colored paper for the stem. The orange pumpkin was edged with a combination of orange and brown inks. The card itself is made with craft paper edged with brown ink, the panel is made using the Tim Holtz Baroque die on mustard marble paper from The Paper Company and edged with brown ink, while all the remaining papers are from Die Cut with a View. The various pieces were layered flat in overlapping patterns. The text is a sticker from Hallmark
.

The second card uses leaves die-cut from pale green, pale yellow and burgundy paper using the leaf and leaf 2 Sizzlets dies from the Thanksgiving set and then edged with ink in darker versions of the paper color. The vines are from the Decorative Flourish set cut from olive colored paper for the stem. The pumpkin is from the Thanksgiving set and was die-cut twice: once from orange paper and once from olive colored paper. The orange pumpkin was edged with a combination of orange and brown inks. Other than the card itself; which is a piece of the Basic Grey Ambrosia Citrus (also edged in black ink) all the papers are from Die Cut with a View. The various pieces were overlapped and use various thicknesses of raised adhesive dots to create a 3D effect. The text is a sticker from Mrs. Grossman's.

An interesting side note: the day after I finished these card I received an e-mail from Sizzix advertising their new dies and guess what?  One of the new border dies more or less creates this same look.  Actually they have two new boreder dies with this type of theme: one for fall and one for Christmas.  Good thing is I don't have to buy the fall one!

Old Fashioned Feminine Birthday Card.

I love the look of aged antique cards with soft images of days gone byand I try to re-create some of these from time to time.  Here's one I did recently.

The card itself is made from a antique patterned beige paper from one of the many Die Cut with a View packs that I have; which I edged with brown ink and stamped a Inkadinkado flourish on in a light olive green ink.  The ribbon is an old K&Company ribbon over a deckle edged cut strip of antique gold paper from The Paper Company.  The 3D sticker (which I also lightly edged with brown ink) is from K&Company and was attached to a Spellbinder deckle edged die-cut and embossed background from more antique gold paper.  The sticker panel is attached with thin raised adhesive dots to create a shadow outline.  To finish the card I added Me and My Big Ideas mini yellow rhinestones to the stamped flourish.

Delicate Die-cutting.

My latest cartridge from "Cricut" is called Ornamental Iron #2 and I have to say it has some very impressive detailed designs.  The problem is that some of the designs are so detailed and lace like that they are hard to cut on a small scale like the one needed for cards.  To make the pattern for a 5" square card I needed two die-cut designs at 2" (allowing for the shadow background and overall framing) and to get two cut-outs that could actually be used I ended up having to cut out five of them!  But I think the results are well worth it.  Of course i couldn't leave well enough alone and added a small 3D glittered and jewelled "K&Company/E.K. Success" flower to the center.

The look of this card is feminine because of the color choice of white and ecru but it could easily become a masculine looking card by using a darker color scheme or one that actually mimics ornamental iron fencing or detailing. 

Another Cricut embellished card.

Here's are two more Cricut embellished cards; which could easily have been done totally using the Cricut if I'd have the patience of cutting out the flowers in various sizes, assembling them and the glittering the center.  Instead I used pre-made Martha Stewart/E.K. Success 3D glittered flowers.  Why not, I may as well use them since I paid for them just like I paid for the Cricut.

The first card was  made using the Picturesque cartridge card and seal feature.  The problem is that you need to use a 12" x 24" mat as well as a piece of paper bigger than 12" x 12" to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  The card created by the Cricut is actually a three fold card; which is not truly required.  So after eliminating one of the panels from the equation it took a while but I figured out how to use a 12" x 12" sheet and even a 6" x 12" piece of paper to make the 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.   I cut out the fence motif card from white card stock and added the light blue background on the inside of the card.   The flourishes I used for the stems and tendrils come from the Home Decor cartridge.  To create the opposite look I die-cut the image twice, once using the flip option (or you can just flip the paper over and cut both of them in the same direction).  The last touch was adding the punched leaves (Martha Stewart/E.K. Success rose leaf hand punch) and the 3D glittered flowers.

The second card was made using the Heritage cartridge. The fence and gate are made by combining two corners and one tag options of the same design.  The trees are also from the Heritage cartridge and were cut once from a light olive and once from a darker olive colored paper.  The trees were then cut in half vertically to create four usable pieces.  The banner is from the Indie cartridge and was cut out from ivory colored paper.  The rhinestone centered flowers are from Jolee's Boutique.

I have to admit these two cards are the best cards I made using the Cricut and have inspired me to create more.