Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #157 ~ 3-D Project

Good Monday morning to all my crafty friends! I’m on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog Design Team and today we are starting a new challenge – create a 3-D project with at least one cut image cut with your Cricut! Well, this challenge was right up my alley. I LOVE creating 3-D items! So I decided to use one of the Cricut Craft Room Exclusives that I bought a while ago when it was on sale but until now I have never used it. I created the Branches Lantern from 3-D Lanterns. If you are just coming from FCCB, then this is the lantern that you saw -

But after living with it for a while, I had to add some more stuff to it! It’s not finished until I say it’s finished and it just was not finished! So here is my new and improved 3-D Lantern -

As you can see I added layered flowers to all of the branches, a handle at the top that is secured with a bundle of beautiful rolled flowers and leaves. But let’s start at the beginning. These lanterns are so easy to put together and make great pieces for your home. If you use flameless candles you can even use these as night lights for little children.

You just need to cut out 4 of the same panel for this lantern and the 4 pieces of vellum for the inside. I cut this lantern out at 11.11”. But I added something a little different – I cut out 4 extra panels in Kraft cardstock to make the branches look a little more realistic.

First I carefully cut out all of the branches from 2 of the pink panels.

Then I cut out the branches from the Kraft cardstock but this time I left a small border around the branches.I only had to cut out 2 sets of branches from each panel of the Kraft. I left them in sets of 2 and 3. I attached a very thin (1/8”) piece of Scor-Tape to the pieces that I cut out but not actually on the branches.

I carefully placed the pink panel directly over the Kraft – hiding the sides and only letting the branches show through.

I then punched out tons of little flowers from different punches in different sizes.

I inked all of the flower edges to give them more depth.

After the flowers were all inked, I used my flower shaping tools from McGill to give all of them even more dimension.

I also added some Martha Stewart Branch Punches in green and Kraft.

Here are the flowers that I put on each side of the lantern top. They were cut with a My Favorite Things die, Embossed with my Cuttlebug, inked and rolled. There are some made from cardstock and a couple made from vellum. I added a clear jewel in the center of each flower. Each butterfly was punched out in white cardstock and stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with detailed embossing powder. I added some bling down the middle of the butterflies. The white on white embossing is so gorgeous – I really wish you could see the detail!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I added the tiny layered flowers with clear jewels in the centers to all of the Kraft colored branches.

A handle was added and then I put a votive candle inside and turned off the lights. (I know that a flameless candle is so much better but unfortunately I couldn’t find any and this was just for a quick  photo op. Besides I’m still here, but thanks for your concern!)

Isn’t that beautiful?!?!?!? I am really liking these right now and I plan to make more. They’re so quick and easy, even if you makes alterations like I did. Think of the gifts you could create and match these to the recipients home décor! Please comment and let me know what you think! Will you be making some 3-D Lanterns soon? Also, think out of the box – the image that you cut with your Cricut does not need to end up looking like the picture in the handbook – make some changes – make it your own! There is no right or wrong in Art ~ just beauty!

Please visit the other designers at FCCB and see what designs they have come up with. And don’t forget to leave some “Blog Love” for everyone!

Supplies used:

• Cricut Expression
• Assorted cardstock, Vellum
• Punches – Stampin’ Up, Fiskars, EK Success, Martha Stewart, The Paper Studio,
• Die – My Favorite Things
• Ink – VersaMark, Colorbox Chalk
• Stamps – Background stamp by SU, Damask Chair by Stampendous
• Rhinestones – Colorbok, White Blossom
• Adhesive – Scor-Tape, Glossy Accents

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my project today! Now it’s your turn – go create a 3-D project and link it up at FCCB!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Falling for Halloween Blog Hop ~ Day 2

First I’d like to thank Maria for hosting this incredible Blog Hop this weekend and to also thank her for letting me participate in it. I’ve had a wonderful time and I hope that you have too.

Remember, you should have arrived here from Khrista’s blog. If not, you missed the beginning of the hop, so please go to Maria's blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects. I will also be picking one lucky visitor on Monday to receive a box of Blog Candy so be sure to leave comments on both days of the hop and become a follower! Now on to today’s projects!

I guess I wasn’t quite ready to put the vinyl away since I used it here in my first project. You gotta admit, this stuff is so addicting! Here is my Bewitching charger plate:

I bought the charger plate at Michaels with the bling already on it. I got it at a steal since it had some scratches on it – perfect for a Halloween craft project! For my image, I used the Cricut cartridges A Frightful Affair and Chic and Scary by Teresa Collins. I used the Cricut CraftRoom and my Expression to cut the witch from orange vinyl at 8” and the word ‘bewitching’  from iridescent vinyl at 1 1/2”.

I tried to take a photo from a different angle so you could see how beautiful this vinyl really is – but unfortunately I failed! But you can see that I blinged her up a little by placing rhinestones on her hat and shoes. After all, we all like bling – even the little witch in us, lol!

Next I made a Halloween Treat Milk box. These would be so cute to hand out to those special little ghosts and goblins that knock on your door this Halloween.

I used CTMH’s Artist cartridge and cut it out at 8” using paper from DCWV (Midnight Spell pad). The nice thing about this cart is that there is an extra handbook that comes with it with assembly instructions. After I adhered it together, I inked all of the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade. I inked a piece of patterned paper from The Paper Studio and wrapped it around the box, added some rhinestones,

and the potion bottles that were cut from A Frightful Affair at 3”. The “liquid” in the potion bottles and the skull and crossbones were cut from glitter cardstock. I used pop-dots to give the bottles some dimension and added more bling.

The potion bottles cut is actually one piece that I cut into two separate pieces and placed on each side of the box. Just because a cut is a certain way in the handbook doesn’t mean that it has to end up on your project that way!

Before and after

The Happy Halloween is stamped with a Stampin’ Up stamp onto a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut called Tattered Banners which I distressed with Distress Ink and Glimmer Mist then adhered with pop dots. I also used the mist and some Distressed Stains on some white seam binding to change the color of it. The flowers were punched out and also distressed and misted then adhered with glue dots and I placed a rhinestone in the center. Can you tell that I’m also addicted to distressing stuff? (Sorry, the ribbon looks washed out in the photo but looks much better IRL!)

But the following is still one of my favorite projects that I made last year – my little mummy and his tomb cut from the Happy Hauntings cart! Can you tell what the mummy is?

It’s a mini candy bar wrapped up in some plain white gauze with a couple of googly eyes attached!

Thanks so much for joining in on the hop today. Please be sure to check out all the participant's wonderful projects. I've posted the list below in case you've missed anyone. The next blog you will be visiting belongs to the very talented Nadia at http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/. Enjoy!

Maria @  stampcutcreate.blogspot.com

Michele @   scrap-n-dance.blogspot.com

Paulette @  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Cindy @  http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/

Beth @  http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Renee @   icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Debbie @ www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com

Khrista @ http://creativeandcraftyteacher.blogspot.com/

Angela @ Angie's Paper Passion YOU ARE HERE!

Nadia @  http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/ 

Donna @  http://CarolinasCreativeCropper.blogspot.com/

Diane @ http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Sara @  http://www.sarawandrews.com/

Michele @ www.michelegreen.com

Please come by again because I have more projects to keep you crafting!

Until next time, Happy Crafting,

More Stamped Cards to Share and The Winner from My Fabulous and 50th Birthday Blog Hop!

First I wanted you to know that I will start sharing my Design Studio and Gypsy files soon! I only have a few now but I am designing more and more and I’d be delighted to share them with you. I’ll keep you updated!

I wanted to share a few more of my stamped cards with you. The first two were stamped with Stampin’ Ups Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. I think that the sentiment on the left card was made with a hostess stamp set. I love these stamps and use them a lot!

 

In the next set of cards, the one on the left is very special to me – this is the very first card that I made with SU stamps and ink pads! When I saw this stamp set and the background stamp I was hooked – bought both sets on the spot! did you notice that the flower stem is upside down? You didn’t? Then I shoulda kept my mouth shut! lol It wasn’t long afterwards that I became a Demo for SU. The background stamp is En Français and I can’t even remember the name of the other set and since I am still re-doing my scrapbook room – yes, STILL -, most of my stamps are boxed up right now.  The card on the right was one of my demo cards using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and the Upsy Daisy set for the sentiment.

 

On the next card (left), I stamped the  flowers from the Petal Pizzazz set, punched them out and adhered them with foam dots. The sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations set – a great set! The card on the right was stamped with Bird on a Branch set.

 

The first card was done for a card swap and there are no SU sets used on it. I used an embossing folder on the background and a watercolor technique on the stamped image. I just love the next card. It was created with only punches! I used circles, ovals, a flower, and a heart to create this Easter Bunny!

 

The card on the right was made using Bird on a Branch again and Birds and Branches strip die cut from Sizzix. One of my all-time favorite stamp sets is the one that I used to create the first card – Baroque Motifs! The technique used on this is a faux 3-D shadow technique. You need the same color of cardstock and ink color (that’s one of the things that I like about SU – everything matches!), a white pigment ink pad and a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig! Stamp the image in the white pigment ink and let it dry. Then using the SAMJ tool, re-stamp the same image again with a dye ink in the same color as the cardstock , just a slight bit off center from the first one. (see the next photo for a close up) It looks very dimensional but without the bulk – great for mailing.

 

The next card (left) was stamped with the Bloomin’ Beautiful stamp set. I stamped the image on watercolor paper with a VersaMark stamping pad, sprinkled it with gold embossing powder, then heat embossed it. Then using my ink pads and an aqua painter (a plastic paint brush filled with water), I water colored the image in. I used the Razzle Dazzle set and a scalloped die cut to make the next card.

 

Ok, last set! I promise! First card – I stamped the image  - Inspired by Nature – with a VersaMark ink pad and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Second card – used my favorite stamp set again, Baroque Motifs, and the Baroque Border using the Stampin’ Around Wheel. Those two strips on the top left of the card were made with the Word Window punch – a very versatile punch!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my work. I hope that you enjoyed the cards and get some ideas from them!

Now for the winner of my Fabulous & 50 blog candy!!!

 

And the winner of a new Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge is………..

(drum roll please!)

 

Dakota Bear!

Dakota Bear said...

Happy Birthday!
The box is beautiful. Thank you for the great tutorial. I'm looking forward to seeing how you did the glass.

Dakota Bear, please email your name and address to me so that I can get your cartridge in the mail! Thanks to everyone for the warm and wonderful birthday comments! I appreciate each and every one of them! Until next time, Happy Crafting,

Another Halloween Party Idea: A 3-D Platter using Happy Hauntings

I bought these Halloween cupcakes and that inspired me to finally make the 3-D platter on page 70 of the Happy Hauntings cartridge. I love all of the dimensional images that are available now.

The ghosts, the creepy hands, and the witches hats for the cupcake toppers came from the same cartridge. To create a topper, I placed my image – twice - on the virtual mat in Gypsy, sized them to about 2” using the Real Dial Size feature, highlighted just one and flipped it, creating a reverse image. I cut them out and adhered them back to back with a toothpick between the two. You’ll need to use a good, strong adhesive for this. I used Scotch brand Quick Dry Adhesive.

Because I used my Gypsy, I was able to cut this image out at 11” which is slightly larger than you’d be able to cut it out without the Gypsy or Design Studio. The top isn’t the problem, it’s the base because it’s rather wide. So I rotated both parts of the base 45 degrees on my Gypsy and I was able to make it a little larger. Here are the screen shots from Design Studio -

I cut the top from cardstock and the base from black chipboard. I first cut the base from cardstock also but, duh, it didn’t hold the weight of the cupcakes! Glad I had that chipboard on hand. See, it pays to hoard – scrapbook supplies, that is! lol!
Speaking of supplies, look at my weekend haul! I had to use all of those coupons! It’s a law, I think. And it didn’t help at all that the cashier at Michaels let me use THREE coupons at once! What was she thinking? Couldn’t she tell that I was already broke? LOL! I got some new Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page punches, her Monarch Butterfly punch and a border punch, the new DCWV Christmas patterned paper and cardstock stacks, and a paper pad from K&Co. Oh yes, I am now the proud owner of a pink ATG! Anyone need a used RED ATG? lol!

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I also had a cartridge that I have wanted for a long time in my hands – can you guess what happened knowing how much I love to shop and also love a great deal? Please post a comment and tell me what you think I did with it and what cartridge you think it was. The person who guesses right will get some blog candy!!! You have until this Friday (I’ll pick a winner at 10:00pm CST) so let the guessing begin!
Until next time, Happy Crafting,

Hello everyone. I really need to be making a birthday card for my big brother who is turning 70 today - Happy Birthday! - (wow, that is so hard to believe, and, yes I know that I am late), but I can't stop making Christmas cards! I will be having a Christmas card class soon and I thought that I had all the cards that I needed for the class designed and ready to go. But then I think of another idea and then another and then another and then... Well, you know. Anyway, I wanted to share one of the Christmas cards with you.

This one is made with the new set from the Holiday Mini Catalog that just came out this week. I used colors to make it have a little retro feel. The set is called Delightful Decorations (#116517) and the exciting part is that there is a punch that coordinates with it - the Ornament Punch (#116794)! I must admit that I was a little worried about getting a punch that was just for Christmas, BUT, I have found that this is a very versatile tool and I will be posting more samples of projects that use this punch in the future. Thanks for looking and Happy Stampin'