First Project with Cricut Explore Air

Hello, crafters! It's Grace from Grace Notes for Today. I'm happy to share my first card made with the help of Design Space and my new Cricut Explore Air. 

Flower Pot Pocket Card

For the pot, I created my own template. After checking some similar styles online, I found that I didn't like the shape or smaller sizes. There are several flower pots available on cartridges but again, I wanted a cuff that I could decorate.

Details

Size:  The pot, full length before gluing sides is 11 inches long, 4-1/2" wide.

Flowers: 1 @ 2.79"w, 1 @ 2.89"w, 1 @ 2"W. Flowers are all from Forever Young.

Name plate on pot: Cut from Heritage, name was written with Explore Air. Attached with silver heart brads.

Butterfly:  Butterfly from Imagine More Cards, cut at 1.7"

I stapled a piece of green ribbon at the top, to indicate that the flower card needs to be pulled out. For the message on the card, I used the writing feature in Design Space. Sorry I don't remember what fonts as I tested many.

If you would like my template for this flower pot, please become a follower of my blog (click blue "Join This Site" button in right side bar) and leave me a comment requesting the template. Don't forget to give me your email address so I can send it to you. I'd love for you to visit my blog at GraceNotes4today.blogspot.com.

Happy 98th Birthday, Gma!

Hello everyone! Java Jen here from JAVA JEN CREATIONS and I am so excited to share some projects with you this month! Thank you, Sheila, for another opportunity!
Recently my Gma, (short for Grandma), turned 98 and we celebrated in grand style! I was in charge of the decorations and I had so much fun doing them! My Gma's sister turned 96 the day after her so we celebrated her too! I made a birthday banner, Chip Decor names and themed centerpieces.

I used the Country Life cartridge for the images in this centerpiece because it was perfect to represent her growing up years!

The main table that Gma and her sister Lucille sat at.

Close up of the banner made using Art Philosophy and Country Life.

Used the Hobby Lobby exclusive cartridge, Chip Decor to cover the Chip Decor letters.

Made this centerpiece using the Heritage and Country Life cartridges.

Gma and Aunt Lucille enjoying their cake and ice cream! 

Sorry for the glare in this pic but I used Create a Critter and Animal Kingdom for this centerpiece since Gma loves animals, namely cats! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Halloween Sign

Hi everyone, Beth from thunderbirdlindybydesign, today  I wanted to show you a quick Halloween sign I made.  I got the idea from a wooden sign I saw at Hobby Lobby.

You will need:
Ribbon
Circuit Expression
Cardstock(I used regular, glittered, and shimmer)
Happy Hauntings Cart
Oct 31
Heritage
George, or any cart with an oval
Glue
I also used my Gypsy, but after I got it done, I realized you did't need one.

I started with Heritage and cut the scroll sign at 11.39 high using glittered black cardstock.

I started with the oval from George at 7.24, using shimmery cardstock and placing the following cuts inside of the oval, I cut the house from Oct 31 at 3.39

The Bats from Happy Hauntings at .30

The moon from Oct 31 at 1.12.

In hindsight, I could have just cut the oval by itself, and then in black cardstock cut the House, Bats and Moon, and glued them on top of the shimmery instead of trying to place the cuts within the oval.  After I got it all together, I realized I made this harder than it needed to be.

Using Happy Hauntings, I cut both of the above pumpkins with their layers in various sizes.

The owl and it's layers is from Happy Hautings cut at 4.18.

Like I said, you really didn't need your Gypsy, I just started placing the items I wanted to cut on the screens and sized them to each previous layer.

Here is the completed project.

When I put the above pumpkin together with his layers, the whole time I kept thinking of the line from the movie Toy Story, when Mrs. Potato Head was packing Mr. Potato Head's butt, and said he needed his "Angry Eyes".  Boy this pumpkin sure has Angry Eyes.

I wished I would have cut the scary top layer in black instead of grey.  I am not liking this too much.

Thanks Sheila for having me as a guest designer today,  Beth.

She Sews a Fine Seam

Happy 5th Monday, everyone! This is Sandi of Soft Side of Sandi  (personal blog) and also Stuck on U Sketches  challenge blog.  I was so flattered when Sheila asked me to do a Guest Designer spot for her. My approach may be a little less "technical"  than you normally see here at She's a Sassy Lady ... but I figure that's okay. I mainly do layouts and only a few other types of paper crafting projects as needed. So, I decided I would just walk you through how I usually approach a layout and share my cut file.  First, let me show you the finished product:

My first step in doing a page is to decide upon the photo (or photos) I will use and then to select papers to go with my them. That for me is the hardest part! I love paper and have far too many options! On this page I wanted to keep the photo as a color photo and chose to match my mom's blouse. TIP: When I first began to scrap, I would rely on my Color Wheel quite frequently for assistance. Over time, I use it less and less .. and bend the rules somewhat to meet my needs. But if you are new to paper crafting, I highly recommend using one.  Here's a pic of the papers I chose:

Love using purple and teal together! Today I've used Webster's Pages Shine a Light and Foo on Film, as well as misc cardstock.

Next, I usually select a sketch to go with the number of photos I will be using. I also have a few fall-back sketches memorized that I use when the mood strikes, like with this page. (TIP: There are lots of great sketch sites online.  I have even recently downloaded some sketches to my I-phone from the App store. You may at first feel limited when using a sketch ... until you see how it can improve your results.)  Then I start designing either on my Gypsy or in Design Studio to see if my page elements will fit and look balanced. This was how my page looked in DS:

Here's a few photos of some of the cut elements:

Next, I used my Zutter Distress-it-all to distress my 12x12 paper edges, then inked them with Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I normally do more layers on my pages but since I was using a large photomat, a large title and the dressform cut, I decided I would like to stay with one continuous paper.  After distressing my edges and inking them, I adhered the purple paper to black cardstock. TIP:  If you do not have a distressing tool, you can always just use the edge of your scissor blade.

I scanned the photo of my mom and did some photo editing before printing it and adhering it to the photomat which was cut using the Cricut Sentimentals cartridge. TIP: Scan your photos before using them so that you will have digital storage and will not have to use your originals. Before I adhered it to my paper, I assembled my title and the shadow layer using my Zig 2 way pen. Those were cut using the Nursey Rhyme cartridge. Then, after inking my edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China.  I adhered my photo and title to my page, as well as the black corner scrolls which were cut from the Cricut Heritage cartridge.

My dressform was cut multiple times using the Cricut Forever Young cartridge to make it thicker without stopping to cut some chipboard. Then I decorated "her" a bit with some ribbon for her skirt and flat-backed adhesive pearls at her neck. TIP: Foam squares were used on the backside of the dressform to provide some dimension and lift it off the page.

Before placing my flowers on my page, I used Terrifically Tacky Tape along the bottom of my photo and attached some black trim from my stash. Once the flowers were in place, the scissors (also from Sentimentals) were glued to my flower cluster. My flowers are a mix of Prima Guava Peony Etude and Petaloo Chantilly Mixed Blooms in Green. TIP: You could also easily use your favorite hand made paper or fabric flowers.

Lastly, I added some purple crystals to the chandelier, pearls to my photomat and a single Jolee's purple Fluer-di-lis on the right side of my black trim.  I did journal beneath my photo after taking a photo for this tutorial. The crystals and pearls are the Prima E-line variety from my stash. TIP: I use a flat blade like a wallpaper knife to lift my stones from the packaging and to transfer then to my paper. Works great for me!


If you are interested, here is the link to the DS cut file: http://www.box.net/shared/9yv1ntpnti
And here is the link for the Gypsy version of the file: http://www.box.net/shared/2gjydfef51

In closing, I just want to thank Sheila for having me here today.  I hope you enjoyed hearing about how I made my little project! Please let me know if you have any questions.

 Sandi

Sassy Gift Box - MyaMagoo Style

This is such a wonderful project and I guarantee you will want to make this little box over and over again. What a wonderful way to present a gift. My thanks to our very own MyaMagoo for this design at Design~Create~Inspire. My work scheduled me with no days off for this week and last other than Sunday. This left me with many projects to complete and not enough time...  I asked, and Crystal came to the rescue with her very own Hexagon Box. And it cut perfectly! All you need to cut this design is GW, PS and AE. I used Heritage for the Cameo for my design and Forever Young for the hat which I used as a gift tag. This gives it a look of a ladies hat box.

This is the design and I have touched the preview button so you can see how it is actually going to cut while allowing you to see the complete design. (Note: if you download this file just be sure to delete the cart letters on the top left or they will  cut too.) I knew by looking at the design this would cut perfectly so I didn't even try a test cut!

All I did was add a Cameo and the Hat and it was ready to cut... I didn't even save that as I figured what ever the occasion, whom ever the receiver the art or decorations will change for that person.

Aren't these papers yummy? Hobby Lobby has wonderful designer paper for $1.99 per sheet that is just awesome.... be sure to buy when on sale or you have a coupon.

This is a very important step in this project... scoring. You really need to take the time to score properly for this design to come together perfectly. After you score be sure to fold and crease the edge as shown so it comes together with clean crisp edges.

See how every side edge is folded and ready.

Then I did the Hexagon. Take it slow and concentrarte. There are no score lines as you really don't need them. Just score from edge to edge on each flap, as shown below.

Now I used a heavy glitter paper so I recommend Zip Dry Glue for that, your ATG tape will not hold on glitter paper... I tried, it will not hold.

Do the same process for your lid but before glueing together be sure to add any decorations on the lid while you can still lie it flat. Then place glue on the edges and bring up the sides. Because my top was mainly paper I put it together first and let it dry. Then after I put the bottom together I placed the lid on it to hold in place while it dried. Make sure you don't have any excess glue from the bottom touching the lid though or you will not be able to get them apart.

I used the Zip Dry to adhere the cameo to the lid?

It looks so pretty and feminine.

See how nicely it fits together.

I made the tag from the Forever Young cart, 2 pieces glued together with a little feather in between.

And of course the little hat will fit nicely in the box. I cut it from the scrap edges while cutting the box base.

Added a little flower and it was good to go.

Don't you just love this little box? So easy, less than 5 minutes to cut and only about a 30 to 45 minutes to put together.

I want to thank Crystal aka MyaMagoo at Design~Create~Inspire for rescuing me and allowing me to share with all our Tuesday Treats and ShesASassyLady followers the opportunity to not only see for the first time this awesome box but to actually have a copy of this Magoo Hexagon Box Gypsy File!!! You are awesome MyaMagoo and I feel privledged to have presented one of your designs. Thank you for that opportunity!

I am always encouraged by your sweet - sweet words. Your comments inspire me to keep scrapping and sharing things with you and that goes for both Crystal and myself!