Beware!

Today's card is a two-for-one.  I posted it on the Gyspy Chat challenge and Raq's Card Challenge - both on the NEW Cricut messageboard.  The sketch came from the Raq challenge and the recipe came from the Gypsy challenge.  Here's the recipe:  1. a holiday card  2. at least two images (tag, spider, web)  3. 1 word (Beware) 4. 1 weld (eek)  5. 1 image stretched (Beware)  6. 1 image squeezed (tag)  7. at least three cartridges (Lyrical Letters, Pumpkin Carving, October 31, George).  I also added Stickles to Beware and a little bling here and there.  The web in the corners is the circle web from PC.  I cut off the circle and then cut the web in half.  I tried the web from October 31 and it was just too delicate at that size.

Family's coming in for a visit so I hope to keep up with my posts.  If not, I'll be back this weekend.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Another Challenge Card and Some Helpful (?) Ideas.

I'll begin by posting my 4th challenge card for Santa's Slackers.  I used Very Merry Tags and an EK Success border punch.  It's pretty simple, but I  like the idea of the tag in the pocket (my rather far-fetched interpretation of the sketch!) and may explore some different ideas along those lines for more Christmas cards.

I really love to organize things - sometimes I organize more that I create!!  Well - I have 68 Cricut cartridges (it was scary to actually count them) and I can't always remember what's on them, especially those wonderful bonus cuts found on the function keys.  I do take the time to go through my handbooks, just to refresh my memory and find inspiration, but sometimes I just need a frame/mat and I can't remember which cartridge to use. 

So this is what I did:  I went through my handbooks with my Gypsy turned on and the 12x24 virtual mat selected.  When I found  frames/mats I knew I would use often, I selected them and placed them on the virtual mat.  I used a default size of 2.5 so that I could compare across the cartridges I chose.  I didn't include Mini Monograms because I'm very familiar with those shapes.  After I filled up my virtual mats (2 pages) with cuts that I had been looking for, I used my Expression to draw the shapes using my Cricut Pens.  That way, I'd have reference sheets with the cuts all together.  I also added the initials of the cartridge following each set of cuts.  It really didn't take that long and I love being able to look at my sheets to compare shapes and sizes and know which cartridge to use.   Now, you may not want to use 12x24 paper.  You could do the same thing on 12x12 or 8.5x11 and make smaller images.

                                          A Reference for Frames/Mats

I added the note "&frames" after the Storybook images to remind myself of that complete function key.

The other thing I've done to help me with cartridge images is to print the preview pages from the Cricut.com website.  If you go to "information" then "Cricut library" and click on the first column after each cartridge, you'll get a single sheet preview.  You can't see the images created with the function keys, so I'll write what the function keys do and also write any "words" or "phrases" that come with the cartridge directly below the image.  I keep all these pages in plastic sleeves and held together with binder rings.

Well, those are my brainstorms for today.  Hope you find them helpful.  Now, I must stop organizing and get the creative juices flowing!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Fall is in the Air

I designed this card for the Jitterbuggin' challenge.  I just received the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge so I was excited to use it.  The bird and all of its layers were cut at 2.5 inches.  I inked all the cut edges and embossed the bird's bacground paper and its body. This cartridge is going to be fun.  I'm thinking an " All Through the Year" album would be really cute.  Hmmmmm, I'll have to give that some thought.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Halloween Cards

I'm trying to finish up some projects that have been ignored for awhile so I thought I'd share some pre-blog cards from my files.  I'll start with Halloween cards.  I made a Halloween card when I attended my very first card class - that's where my love for cardmaking began and it just keeps growing!

This was my first challenge card.  The spiders and sentiment are from Lyrical Letters and the Cuttlebug folder is Pumpkin Harvest sanded and inked.  There are jewels on the spider bodies.

This was the first time I welded anything.  At the time, I used Design Studio to copy and weld the spiders, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, and fence.  All the cuts are from Paper Doll Dress Up and the sentiment is a heat embossed stamp.  I also used the MS Drippy Goo border punch.

These are all stamped images that were heat embossed.  I love using layers of papers!

Another first - the first time I used velum (the bat images are a part of the velum) and the first time I set eyelets.  The sentiment was cut from  patterned paper and then outlined with stickles.

In the next post, I'll share some Autumn cards.  Hope you'll vist again.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Personalized Notecards/Crop Night Kits

My daughter is the assistant softball coach at Texas Tech University.  Every time I visit her I enjoy going to the local scrapbook stores where I can find wonderful Texas Tech papers and embellishments.  During my  visit in August, she asked me to make her some Texas Tech notecards.  So, after forcing myself to complete a pile of unfinished cards from my crop night kits (see below), I treated myself to the new papers and made a few cards for her.  I hope she enjoys using them. 

So, what's a crop night kit, you ask?  The first time I attended a Swarm, I took 2 days to pack everything I thought I needed to take and, of course, I took way too much.  The owner of my Local Scrapbook Store suggested I make crop night kits.  Each baggie (remember, I'm mostly a cardmaker) contains the paper, embellishments, stamps, ink, diecuts, etc. for  cards that I designed at home before the crop.  At my last Scrap-n-Yak, I had 8 different card designs with enough papers cut to assemble 6 of each design.  I came home with 48 Card Fairy and Cards for Soldiers cards completely assembled and ready to mail.  It does take some time before the crop, but I just keep baggies handy and when I have some extra cardmaking time, I put one or two kits together.  That way, on crop night I only have to take my tool kit and my baggies.  I did the same thing for album pages.  I put all the cuts and embellies in 12x12 plastic pockets, one for each page.  I came home with 6 completely assembled pages.  By having your crop night kits, you don't have to feel guilty about chatting (and eating!) the night away.  You'll still come home with completed projects!!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

White on White - designed on the Gypsy

Today's card is for the Santa's Slackers challenge.  When I saw the sketch I envisioned a white on white winter scene.  I did add a touch of silver with the ribbon, stars on the trees, and the card mat. For dimension I Cuttlebugged (verb?) each tree with a different embossing folder, popped the center one and also popped the snowflake (Accent Essentials) which was cut from the same glitter paper as the background.  I used George for the trees.  On the Gypsy, I selected the triangle, copied it two more times, and then stretched each one to get the three sizes I wanted. I then copied each tree again.  After I lined three of them up to fit the card width, I grouped and welded so that I'd have one solid base and three trees to cut separately. I also sized the two snowflakes on the Gypsy.

Here's the layout on the Gypsy screen.  The gray lines on the grouped trees will not cut.

The finished card.

A close-up to show the embossing and dimension.

I love that I'm getting at least one holiday card completed each week.  I've chosen several of the sketches to make multiples for Cards for Soldiers so maybe I won't be scrambling to get them completed on time this year.

As always, I'd love your feedback.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Jitterbuggin' Card Challenge

This will be a short post today (it's housework day!!!).  Sherri over at Jitterbuggin' Challenge has a weekly sketch challenge.  She creates the sketches herself - such talent.  This week's theme is "Going Old School." We were asked to use the sketch for inspiration and include the primary colors red, yellow, and blue.
I used A Child's Year and Plantin Schoolbook for this 5 x 7 card.  I pop dotted the child and the heart and added a little doodling.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Ready-made Elements - Yes, I use them too.

I just finished a card using My Mind's Eye Lil Robots paper and the matching chipboard elements.  I don't use a lot of ready-made chipboard or punch-out elements, but sometimes companies provide such cute and clever accessories, it's silly not to use them.  I especially love it when JoAnn has a 40% off sale - I snag up K&Co and Marcella by K dimensionals, and I've found some treasures at Tuesday Morning

Here's my Robot card.  I used the chipboard accessories on the outside and inside (not posted) I used a punch-out robot with a speech bubble for the sentiment.  The layout is one of this week's sketches for Raq's card challenge. This card is for a 4 year old boy.

The dimensional sentiment on this next card is from Marsella.  I only had a small area for the sentiment (I was following another sketch for Raq's card challenge) so it worked perfectly.

My last two cards were also made for card challenges. The first one is for the My Sheri Crafts "Thinking of you" challenge.  I didn't use a ready-made dimensional, but I did use prima flowers and a button brad.

This last one is also for Raq's card challenge (we get 3 sketches a week.)  The Hedgie image is colored with Copic markers.  I love Penny Black's hedgehog stamps.  They're so easy to color and the images are always adorable.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend. 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Santa's Slackers Card Challenge

Sandi at Sandi's Added Touch and Joy at Purtty Paperz have started a Christmas Card challenge called Santa's Slackers (cute name, huh?)  They are posting a new sketch every Monday in the Cricut Card Forum (www.Cricut.com/messageboard)  and also on their blogs (just click the links above.)  Just think how far ahead you'll be with your Christmas Card stash if you participate.  It sounded too good for me to pass up and I'm hoping that I'll find THE card that will become my holiday card to be mailed to friends and family.

Here is this week's challenge card.  It is supposed to be 5x7 (oops, didn't read that part carefully!), have a cricut cut (mine is the snowflake from Home Accents), and have some bling.  I also used the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder.

This second card is the first sketch Sandi posted.  It is a square card which I don't often make because square cards require extra postage!  The papers came embossed and shiny so I didn't have to do much.  The sentiment, square, and scalloped square are from Winter Woodland.

I invite you to join in the challenge.  It's a great way to get card ideas.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Two Cards, One Sketch

As I've said before, I love using card sketches, especially when I have quite a few to make in a short amount of time.  I can spend my time selecting just the right papers and embellishments because the layout is done.  Anyway, this card layout was for Raq's Card Challenge on the Cricut mb.  As I was assembling this first card, the second one just popped into my mind.

The papers are from my scrap drawer.  I used punches for the flowers and tag, placing Stickles in the flower centers for some added bling.  Also, I like tearing paper, it adds a different look and texture.

I love using white on white (with just a few hints of pale blue).  Using the Cuttlebug Divine Swirls and Swiss Dots folders added enough dimension to differentiate the papers and I also inked the torn edge of the dotted paper.  The snowflakes were punched and I pop dotted the oval and single snowflake.  The oval center is a brad I had in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn