Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Your favorite colors...

This week's challenge on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is "All about me - do a project with your favorite colors."  I gotta tell you, I was a little blocked on this one.  My son has been home sick for almost a week and as usual, I've caught what he has.  I can't believe this sicky streak we have been on- it has really stymied my creativity. To combat my grey mood, I decided a strong wash of color was in order so my post for this week is this bold and beautiful flower cut from the Cricut cartridge Floral Embellishments.

I just don't use this cartridge enough.  It has a lot of fun images that will work with so many different looks! The big bloom around this flower totally reminds me of my big hair (when I take the time to get dolled up). I really like the bright colors and outstanding charm this image affords. Certainly you could tone it down with another color palette but since it is all about me, I went with lively tones. I love the enthusiasm and excitement of this burst of color; even if I am feeling blah and meh from being sick.

Easy Kid Penguin Costumes

 

A few days ago, Eva's entire 2nd grade class decided to dress like Penguins for Marine Life Spirit Week.  She and her BFF wanted to wear matching costumes so I hit the internet to find T-shirts with a cute penguin theme. There was not much to choose from and the prints were really uninteresting. I decided I would talk to some of the other parent's in car-line the following day about their plans.

Then, as I walked past my art room with a laundry basket in hand, I noticed some white felt, orange foam and red ribbon crowding my messy work table.  Within seconds, the costumes put themselves together; almost without any effort from me. Within 15 minutes and completely on a whim, these penguin tees were designed and assembled.

I cut the tummy and eyes from a large sheet of firm felt.

The beak was made from layered foam sheets and I put a piece of red ribbon in between for the tongue.

The eye lashes were cut from a black foam insulation noodle. I cut a chunk, then cut about 3/4 of the depth with shredding scissors to make lashes.  

When I curved the uncut base, the lashes fanned out so they were more defined (and girlie).  I used a punch to cut cardstock pupils.

 

All of these elements were glue-gunned onto black t-shirts that I picked up at Michael's for $2.50 each. The final touch was adding red wired ribbon on the lower left shoulder so everyone would know there were lady penguins in the house. 

Exploring the World of the Cricut Explore

I am a devoted Imagine user as well as a E1, Design Studio, Gypsy and SCAL owner. I have tinkered with CCR a few times, but never actually hooked my machine to the software. I swore I would never convert to a computer driven product and was resentful of the Cricut Mini when it was first introduced as I was sure the Imagine was a casualty to this new platform. That said, I was smitten with the Explore, like a drunken sailor, within 15 minutes of the first presentation on HSN. There were several factors that won me over:

• No Fuss Dial Settings - the pressure, speed and blade settings have always annoyed me. I've wasted a lot of time and lovely paper trying to get the combination right so I really like that the Explore makes it so simple.

• Draw using Pen Carriage - I own all of the Cricut markers plus a full set of Cri-Kits gel pens but I just don't use them that often.  It is such a pain switching them out, remembering to place a piece of paper over your project so you don't write on it and I worry that when I replace my blade it is positioned correctly in the carriage so my depth of blade number is accurate. With the Cricut Explore, you have a dedicated carriage making the process super easy and convenient. 

• Add a Stylus to Score - One of my pet-peeves when I assemble Cricut projects like cards and boxes is that Cricut cuts little dashes to show you where to fold.  Those dashes do not always insure an accurate fold, and one edge of the "dash" often doesn't fold over so you project doesn't look polished.  The Explore allows you to insert a stylus in the pen carriage so your fold lines are scored when you go to assemble.

• 3 Month Access to Design Space - Having access to all those images and not having to buy them enticed me. Its odd because of my disdain towards CCR but they hooked me with their "Make it Now" feature.

• "Make It Now" Projects on Design Space- If, in fact, creating these pre-made projects are as simple as Anna Griffin made it look, then !HEL-LO! - that rocks! I have a huge box of cuts that I have made over the years that were to big, too small, flipped the wrong direction or made from the wrong color paper. I would be thrilled to be able to cut those issues to a minimum.

• Did You Say Leather? - I love that it can cut through so many materials. I know other Cricut machines have made this claim but owning a machine that is (supposed to be) designed specifically to cut materials other than paper is exciting.

 

• Cut Your Own Designs - I love that!  I know this feature has been around for a while - it is just a matter of converting images into Vector files, but having it integrated into my Cricut system is one less "language" I have to learn...  It feels so daunting to have to think about scanning the image, opening it in Photoshop or into other software conversion programs to covert it to a vector file and then bring it up into the cutter software and do this and that to make sure it works,  I'd rather scan and then stay in one program for the rest of the process.

It almost seems to good to be true but I really do hope that it is everything Anna Griffin says it is. I will admit that her endorsement weighed in on my decision to buy. She is a very reputable and an extraordinarily detail oriented person, so I don't think she would put her name in front of a product without doing her due diligence. Just look at her designs to see her attention to detail and her HSN Holiday Card Kit is an excellent example of her commitment to quality products.

At the end of the day, I am a Cricut girl- head to toe, I can tell you that I am still using my Imagine regularly and love it just as I did the day I bought it! My Expression and Gypsy see the most action because of the design flexibility. I don't even house them in my art room.  Both devices stay on the floor of my bedroom because I am constantly whipping out a quick cut for one thing or another.

It makes me sad to hear that so many people have had so much trouble with their machines and with Provo Craft customer service. I would have lost my marbles if I had had to navigate the issues so many have written about. I really hope that all the problems will be a thing of the past and that the entire Cricut brand is being reborn moving forward.  I also hope that they do not discard their stand alone business and production of new cartridges. Such an amputation would be unforgivable, even to me, a soon to be computer-dependent-die-cut-machine owner. We will see soon enough.  You know I will be posting my thoughts and experiences as soon as my box arrives. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and any insight you have about this new realm of the Cricut world...

Hat Sculptures

I teach an enrichment class called Create and Innovate to 5 through 11 year old kids. I am always searching Pinterest for class ideas and inspiration.  When I came upon this project I just knew I had to teach it! I have never seen anything like them before- and I just love the concept of "hat sculptures"- they are sooooo fabulous!!

When I went to the designers website to find a tutorial I was a little bummed because, I had found an AMAZING blog... but it was in another language... and also another alphabet! I suspect if I spent a few minutes with google translate, I would have been able to change it in English but my artist juju was tingling so I grabbed my scissors and started cutting.

I highly recommend you visit and search this website http://zu4ki.livejournal.com (I wish I could tell you the name).  The artist is really a creative genius!

This hat was my prototype.

 

I wore my hat to last Wednesday's class at Booksin to get the kids thinking and filled their workspace with tons of materials so they could create their own interpretations.  i will be teaching the class again on Monday at St. Tim's and I am excited to see what they do.

These two little cuties from Booksin elementary (last Wed.) decided to turn their hats upside down and they wore them like headbands. They cut embellishments out of construction paper and they added ribbon to the frill. Here are the basic instructions:

• The base for the hat comes from 16" (tall) butcher paper. You can measure the child's head and add a few inches to determine the width.
• Fold one of the horizontal edges over twice (about 1.5") to create the band. Now staple the band on both ends and in the middle so it stays secure.
• Fold the paper in half and then in half again (vertically) making sure that the band is on the outside and visible versus on the inside and hidden from sight. This will make the width divided into quarters and will save you a lot of cutting.  
• Cut strips about 0.5-1.0" wide from the top and stop once you reach your folded band. DO NOT START YOUR CUT FROM THE BAND SIDE  OF THE PAPER.
• Once you are done cutting, open the paper into its full width and cut the larger strips (at the folds) into smaller strips.
• Now you are ready to decorate.  You can use markers, crayons, paint, glitter or glue paper onto paper if you want to add color to your strips.  Be sure to keep in mind that if you use wet mediums to add color your paper, the strips will likely tear if you try to curl them with scissors.
• Since the strips flip every which way, you might consider decorating each strip on both sides.  I am glad I did but it was double the work.
• Cut out flowers, hearts, fish or any other embellishment you'd like to add to the band or on the ends of the strips.
• If you want to get spooky, roll strips of black paper into tubes to make snake bodies, glue a pitch forked tongue sticking out of one end, add eyes, and attach the tubes to the band to make a Medusa looking sculpture hat.
•  Add curled ribbon to switch up the texture.
• You can cut the strips different lengths to add interest.
• Attach a paper plate to the band and add strips on the top.

  

• Fold strands accordion style to get lift and whimsy.
• Skip the strips and go "freestyle".

• If you want to curl your paper strips, practice with the same kind of paper before approaching your hat because the strips tear easily.  I found children scissors to work best and I didn't do the curl all at once.  I worked on sections slowly. It took me a while to "feel" the right angle and pressure to curl without ripping the strand. 
• Switch the direction of your curls from strand to strand!
• Layer circles to make dimensional flowers- staple or tape them onto the band.

 

• Use heavier paper like Dollar tree poster paper to get stronger strips that offer more height.

• Have fun!!

Creating with Multiple Patterns in a Craft Project.

First off - I apologize for being MIA after the kick off of the blog hop.  I got that nasty bug that has been going around and I could not shake it.  Every time I thought I was starting to feel better it would return in a matter of hours. 

I was officially well on Monday, but because I had fallen so far behind in everything, it has taken me 2 days to get to my blog.  I think I am going to write a blog post dedicated to catching up after you or someone you care for gets sick.  It is like falling into a black slack hole and unfortunately, the merry-go-round keeps spinning. If you are hard wired like me, the negative chatter (in my head) that occurs during and after these life lapses can be as miserable (if not worse) than the illness itself.  But enough about that... lets talk about craftiness.

This week's challenge in the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is "Mix and Match- Use 3 different patterns of paper in a project".  As icky as I was feeling, I just had to participate in this challenge.  The use of multiple pattern papers in scrapbook layouts is one of my FAVORITE design styles.  One of the best multi-pattern-paper scrapbook and Cricut artists I know of is Monique Griffith.  She does amazing things with colorful, vibrant, active palettes.  Visit her website to see her gorgeous creations!

Cricut Cartridge Simply Charmed

For my DT contribution towards the challenge, I used 4 different patterned papers in a 2 page layout. I used the Cricut Cartridge, "Simply Charmed" (page 57 - scarecrow hat) to cut out the hats that coordinated with the hats in the photos (the top photos on the right page). I did the bumble bee and lady bug details by hand.

Working with a paper collection makes multiple pattern paper projects a breeze.  No need to scour your stash to find the perfect hue or complimentary pattern.  When you purchase a collection you can put together dynamic pages with very little effort.  Some of the best collections for this kind of design come from:

Simple Stories

Basic Grey

We Are Memory Keepers

just to name a few.  There are so many great paper lines to work with that sometimes the hardest part is picking which one to buy next!

Blog Hop and Cricut Cartridge Wild Card 2

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is hosting a blog hop this week!  Follow the links below to see our Design Team's projects and and meet our newest members plus win prizes! Finish up at the FCCB website and submit a project for a chance to win a set of clear stamps from Scrappy Moms.  This weeks challenge is to create a project using a sentiment.

This is my project using the Cricut cartridge "Wild Card 2."  This cartridge is relatively new and is fast becoming one of my favorite.  I love the artwork and the randomness of the projects.  Certainly there are a couple corny card projects but most of the designs are quite clever.  I will be offering more information about Wild Card 2 this week so make sure you pop over to learn more.

And now the details about my giveaway!

The winner will receive a copy of Cricut Mini Albums.  

It is loaded with tutorials and tons of inspiration.  And to make things interesting, I will also be revealing a few additional giveaway goodies on Tuesday! To enter this giveaway you can:

• become a follower (join this site)
• "like" me on Facebook
• pin a project from my blog.  

For each activity you do from the 3 choices you get an entry.  Let me know which activities you completed by leaving a comment. I will pick a name from the total number of entries on Sunday, January 12 at 5PM PST.

Here is the line up for the FCCB Blog Hop:

Amy HS The Stamping Tree

Emily Mollie's Blog 

Faith Scrapbooker PhD 

Heather Scrapping Runner Creations

Jackie Luv 2 Scrapp

Lynn My Cards N Stuff

Michelle Just a Nutter Papercrafter

Missy Quick Chick Designs 

Nikki Crafty Calamities 

Rebecca Crafting Misfit 

Elizabeth Unik by Yes

Cindy Creating with the Heart 

Pam Stamper at Heart 

Karla Creative Love Affair 

LB Cool Beans by LB

Jilliene Jilliene Designs

Joneita Create with Joneita

Kim Kim's Kreations

Pam O Reflections of my Art and Soul

Cricut Cartridge, Wild Card- Table of Contents and Overview

I have had the Cricut cartridge, "Wild Card" for several years and while it isn't my go-to cartridge when I make the quick card, I certainly have enjoyed working with it.  As with most of the card-centric Cricut cartridges, Wild Card takes a while to get familiar with.  Because the projects are so very detailed, expect to do a few rough drafts before you get the final product.  But once you get it right, you will be pleased with your creations.

Here are a few tips before you get started:

• Use scratch paper for your first pass (a single sided pattern is best - see next tip).  I wasted many sheets of nice paper while I was still in my learning curve. 

• Use single sided pattern paper for all of your envelope test cuts and take note which side needs to face upwards on your mat when you cut the layers for your envelope.

• If you want to have a pattern on the outside of the envelope and a pattern on the inside then you will have to use the flip function for one of the cuts.

 

• Make sure you cut your envelope before you cut your card.  You don't want to cut your card at the largest size possible and then not be able to cut an envelope large enough for the card to fit inside.

• Use the "fit to page" function to find out the largest size the envelope can be cut.  You will want to jot that size down so when you cut the card you can turn off the "fit to page" feature and enter the same measurement as you used for the envelope.
• Cut both the envelope and the liner with regular scrapbook paper instead of cardstock so the envelope isn't too bulky. Bulkiness will distort the creases and the overall shape. 

• Make sure you write down all your notes when you cut out card projects. You should write the size inside of your cartridge handbook so the next time you want to make the card you already know the largest measurement option. Write down which layers need to be flipped when you work with pattern paper. This is a fabulous practice to get into when ever you use your Cricut but with project and card cartridges, it is especially important.

Wild card really has a lot to offer if you take the time to look at it closely.  I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to overlook many of the features on project-specific cartridges because I am looking at the primary content.  Wild Card offers cards and envelopes plus 2 phrases, 2 icons, a liner, a blackout for both the card and the envelope and an upper and lower case alphabet for each key/ handbook page.

The frames can be used in a variety of ways other than with the cards.  They are darling and really versatile.

I like the phrases also! They are relevant and practical and they come in nice fonts too. 

The blackouts are a great but, again, beware of bulkiness.  With each layer of paper, the fold expands.  This will prevent your outside layer edges from lining up with your inner layer edges.

The font is really pretty but I think I could only use it if the letters were welded together. 

Actually, I'm hoping you can help me with this.  I have such a hard time using cursive letters individually.  I find that the angles and sizes do not mesh when I am putting them together to create a word.  Do you run into this problem?  How do you keep your words and titles looking neat and purposeful when you lay cursive letters down individually?

Below is a list of all of the images and phrases on this cartridge with their page numbers.  If you find any errors in the spreadsheet, please let me know so I can correct it. If you would like to share this information on your blog, instead of copy and pasting this info, please paste a link to my site.

Cricut Cartridge Wild Card Table of Contents

I'm Sorry Crafters, I've Been Cheating on You

I am very, very sorry.  I didn't mean for it to happen.  One day I was inking, trimming and gluing and the next minute, I was obsessed with another.  Yes, I've fallen in love with Legos.

Our cable and internet was out for a few days and to pass the time, I started sorting my son's tens of thousands of Legos; something I have daydreamed about doing for years.  It was so cathartic that for days after our technology was up and running, I continued to separate each and every piece into a system of organization. 

I found these little drawers at the Dollar Tree!

Picked this cart up at Michael's for 60% + another 20%= $30!

Then Santa brought me my very own Lego set.  I had never built a set of my own so it was new and exciting.

Well, lets just say Legos had me at hello.  I started assembling and my heart skipped a beat.  Tinkering with color and texture and design was a familiar kind of wonderful but the unexpected surprises that came about by following the building instructions was such a rush.  Within a few days I had sore fingers, an amazing mini city with all kinds of cool features and lots of new skills for creating Lego details.

Since that first set, I have taken apart and rebuilt several of my son's sets with a wonderful sense of satisfaction.  It has been a guilty pleasure, but I realize I cannot neglect my craft life any longer.  Without paper, glitter, Cricut and bling, I am not my true, authentic self.  So I am here, hat in hand, ready to create the very best crafts I can.  I will make it up to you, I promise.

Our Elf on the Shelf has a Sense of Humor

We have a lot of fun holiday traditions at our house. Here are just a few:

• Every Thanksgiving Day, we put up our Christmas tree (or at least we start talking about it). 
• Once the tree goes up, the kids put on three ornaments a day so we get to decorate all month long.
• The kids cut out snow flakes and tape them to the walls throughout the month of December.
• We spend at least one Saturday (usually two) listening to Christmas music while doing Christmas crafts.
• We set up a ceramic Christmas town on the coffee table and take turns rearranging it.
• We invent new lyrics to Christmas carols and have a sing off.

We have a two new traditions this year that have really added a lot of fun to the season.  The first is the 12 days of Christmas wall I created for the kids.

The upper row has gifts for Eva and the bottom has treats for Aidan.  Each stocking, bag and pouch has an initial and a number. Some of the stockings and bags are store bought from past Christmases and some are hand sewn and hand made from Cricut cuts. I filled them with little goodies from the Dollar Tree and hand made ornaments I make while they are at school.

The second new tradition is the Elf on the Shelf.  We have had the set for several years but we never got around to playing with it. Eva used the Elf as one of her dolls for a whole year but otherwise the box never made it out of the garage.

This year we decided to see if the Elf on the Shelf thing was real.  I told the kids I was really skeptical and suspected that their friend's parents might be moving the elf each night, but they convinced me to give it a try.

You can imagine my amazement when the elf moved after that first night.  I thoroughly interrogated the children to make sure they did not get up in the middle of the night to move the Elf and they denied it 100%.  I have to say, I believe them. The elf has moved every night since we first put him out and boy does he have a sense of humor.  Check out our Elf and his daily rest stops:

I cannot wait to see where he ends up next!