Accordian Cards

Hey Ya'll,

The SASSY DUDE here, from Cricut Couple. Sheila has asked me to become a regular designer!  YAY!  Thanks so much Sheila!  Today is my first official regular designer day, so I thought I would share a tutorial on something that looks very complicated, but really isn't at all.  It seems that way at first, but once you have made a couple, it's super simple.  I hope you all give it a try because they are lots of fun!  It's Accordian Cards.

To start with, I am going to show you how to make the frames.  Both cards are going to be 6" x 6" in size.  That's the easiest to size to start with because of the square.  Once you get the hang of it, start playing with other sized cards based on what you normally work with. I normally work with half cards, so this was a lot of fun to try for this tutorial.

Here, you can see that I used my Gypsy to create the frames.  You don't have to do two of them, but this particular card was very simple for making a double mat on the window open to the folded background.

Basically, you will need a square and a label shape.  There are so many great ones on so many cartridges, so I will leave this up to your favorites.  For this one, I used a couple of squared designs from Damask Decor.  This first "Layer 1" on the Gypsy is the wrapped frame that holds in the folding.  You want to make this one inch larger than your base.  Since we are using a 6" x 6" card for the base, we need a 7 inch square.  I pulled a square from George and Basic Shapes, sized it to a height of 7.00 and centered it on the mat.  I then picked a label shape and added it in the center of the square.  For this one, just make sure that it is smaller than 5 1/2 inches square.

For this mat, I wanted to make more of a cover.  Basically, the decorative papers used in this particular card were from thinner paper, so I had to use a stronger card stock for the wrapped portion.  For this, add a 6" x 6" square.  Then add your label shape to the center. Note... keep this one a little larger than the first.  This layer will sit on top of the other and by doing so, you create a double mat.

For the next step, I am going to switch to the halloween design.  I hope this doesn't cause any confusion.  For the inside, you want a piece of paper that is 12" x 5 3/4".  Using a scoring board makes this process very simple.  If you don't own a scoring board, you will need to use a ruler and a bone folder.  It may be simpler for you to pencil mark your paper before scoring.  You want to score every half inch on one side of the paper.  Then flip over the paper and score again, starting a 1/4" and then every half inch after that.  This way you are starting the scores perfectly to the zig zag.

If the paper is scored correctly, this is what it should look like when scored.  The next thing is to fold it on the scoring lines.

This is what you have when finished.  Pretty cool, huh?

Take your " 7 inch " square that you cut earlier and put it on the scoring board.  Working from the outside in, score the side at 1/4" and then again at 1/2" on all four sides.  (I wanted another accent on this one, so I scored again at 1" but you don't have to do that.)  When you have completed scoring, cut the outer 1/2" corner on the scoring lines.  This will allow you to fold correctly.

Once you have scored everything, fold the 1/4" and 1/2" This preps the frame for the insert.

For the next part, you will need your insert, frame and your card base.  The card base is a 12" x 12" piece of card stock, cut in half to a 6" x 12" piece.  It is then folded in the center to create the 6" x 6" card.

Insert the folded part into the frame and using a little tacky glue, glue the corners.  Just so that the corners are prepared attaching.  Using a glue runner or ATG gun, spread adhesive on your card base.  Don't use liquid glue for this application.  It will really wrinkle the card base.

 Once you stick it all together, this is how it turns out.  Once you are done with this part, simply embellish however you want!  It's that easy.

 For the halloween card, I cut a witch from A Child's Year and a frame from Happy Haunting.  I used George and cut a couple of ovals.  I also cut the frame larger and smaller to create a window frame in the purple for this card.

 You can embellish with whatever to make it your own.  Just be careful to not go too overboard.  You don't want to cover up all that beautiful folding you did.  Hee! Hee!

 For the inside, I simply used more of the same label shapes and added a couple of bats.

 For this one, I cut a couple of ovals and stamped the Happy Birthday.  I cut some flowers with coordinating paper using Mother's Day Bouquet.

 You can see here that the frame for this one was made with white card stock.  The striped paper is added to the top.  This gives a nice double mat frame around the folding. I added some stickles and gems to finish it off.

 On the inside, I simply added the cuts that were left over from the front for the sentiment mats.  I also added a couple of the leftover flowers.

Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  Another big Thank You to Sheila for having faith in me that I could play along with such a talented bunch of Sassy Ladies.  I would love to know what you think about this project, so please leave a comment!  That's what makes this all so much fun!

You are also welcome at either blog anytime!  Here is a link to My Blog - Cricut Couple.

I have cards for the most part, but there are some fun projects from guest designing for Sheila and you all!  I look forward to your visit!

Most Sincerely,

Bobby - The Sassy Dude!

Cricut Couple

Floral Embellished Picture Frame

Hey Scrappers, another wonderful day at She's A Sassy Lady! This is Kate from Sassy and Scrappy with a fun gift or home decor item. I decided to alter a picture frame for my post today. Since Spring has arrived and we're nearing Mother's Day it seemed like a great time to once again pull out the Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut cartridge. I absolutely love this cartridge and have found many uses for it. If you're interested you can find some of my other projects with this cartridge here and here.

This is the patterned cardstock that I picked for this project. Isn't is great? It's not typical Spring colors, but the oranges remind me of the sun and the plaid is just fun, while the damask brings a sense of elegance.

This is a frame I picked up from Joann's. I think their frames are always on sale, or at least there are coupons available, which is nice. An 8 by 10-inch photo will fit inside.


I used my Lori's Garden cartridge and my Imagine to print the text script on a couple pieces of cardstock. I'm in love with this feature.


I cut out 4 different styles of flowers on my 4 pieces of cardstock. Here they are before being layered and embellished.


I used two different kinds of glue on this project, a liquid glue and my glue gun. I used the glue gun to adhere the flowers to the picture frame. I figured it would give me a little more time to put the flowers where I wanted them and would allow me to move the flower if needed. I also used black, white and yellow buttons, as well and white and black pearls.


To add dimension to my flowers and each layer I used a paintbrush to curl each layer. It adds to the 3-D effect of each project and brings it to life.


A close-up of the top right side of the frame.


Although I twisted the frame around for the picture, this is actually the bottom left.


Another view of the frame on my shelf. Yes, this is me and a sweet little family friend.

Details:

• Pattern Paper-My Mind's Eye "Ooh La La" Collection
• Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut Cartridge-flowers cut at 2, 1 1/2 and 1-inches
• Lori's Garden
  
• Buttons-Papertrey Ink
• Pearls-Recollections

I found completing this project much quicker than I expected. It didn't require a lot of tools and other than the frame, everything used in this project I already owned. I hope this frame will inspire you to create something for yourself or for someone special in your life...perhaps a Mom or Mother-In-Law. I always love to hear your comments and please come visit me at Sassy and Scrappy. Have a great day!

Chocolate Easter Bouquet

Hey scrappers, this is Kate from Sassy and Scrappy. I'm happy to be sharing this fun project with you today at She's A Sassy Lady. Wow, haven't the projects around here been amazing! I gotta tell you these ladies are so talented.

Originally when I came up with this idea, I was going to use a tin basket that I found at Target in the dollar section. And then I remembered the picket fence box on the Wrap It Up cartridge and I thought it would be really cute, so that's what I went with.


I sized the box on my Gypsy and basically fit it to page on a 12 x 12 mat. When assembled it makes about a 4 x 4-inch box.


I decided to emboss my fence with the Cuttlebug folder Distressed Stripes. I could have let it be a perfect little white picket fence, but this seemed a little bit more fun and of course adds texture and dimension.


Here's a picture of the box as I sent it through the CB. I basically folded the box and lined up the folder to the edge of the fence and sent it through. It worked perfectly. After embossing I used brown ink around the edges and a light layer over the stripes.


The green layer cuts the grass. If you look closely you'll notice that not all four sides line up correctly. Only 2 of the 4 sides line up. That kind of drives me crazy! Instead of cutting more pieces I decided to just use some green ink around the edges.

A picture of the flowers before I layered and assembled them. As you can see, two of the flowers are cut with pattern paper. I embossed the lilac colored flowers using the Swiss Dots CB folder.


Here are the supplies I used. I found the sticks in the children's art section at Michael's. I applied crackle paint to create a stem. To adhere my flower layers, chocolate candy, and flowers to the stick I used my glue gun. Make sure it doesn't get too warm and melt your chocolate, lol. In order to create added dimension to my flowers I sprayed a little bit of water on the paper. This helps the paper to "move" better which is especially helpful with the thick Papertrey Ink cardstock that I use. Then I just rolled the flower petals around a thin embroidery needle.

Once the fence and flowers were all assembled, I placed some flower foam in the box and created my bouquet. I'm not the best at floral arrangements, so keep that in mind. To finish off my project and add a little more "Easter" to it, I placed some paper grass in the box. I thought it would be fun to put more chocolate in and around the basket as well. I mean, you can't have too much chocolate!


Here is a better look at the fence. I really like the way it turned out.


I love how this picture came out. It just doesn't get much better in my world than flowers and chocolate! Although you can see in this close-up that I probably went a little heavy with the glue gun, but the I wanted that chocolate to stay up there! I really love all the color and layers.


Details:

• Box-Wrap It Up cut at 11.25-inches with layer
• Flowers-Mother's Day Bouquet cut at 2, 1.5, 1.25 and 1-inches
• Pattern Paper-Echo Park Springtime Collection
• Cardstock-Papertrey Ink New Leaf and Royal Velvet
• Embossing folders-(Cuttlebug) Distressed Stripes and Swiss Dots
• Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint-Peeled Paint
• Glue Gun
• Flower Foam
• Wood Skewers
• Egg Shaped Chocolate Candy
• Easter Grass

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my project today. I hope it inspired you and perhaps you can create an Easter or Spring home decor projects yourself. I'd love to see what you come up with. Thank you Sheila for allowing me to post today, and as always I enjoy your comments! If you have any questions please let me know. Stop my my blog anytime, I'd love to see you.

Sassy Flower Window Card

Hi this is Lori and I am a Sassy Guest Designer today!! Sheila is famous for her Window Cards, so I thought I would make one for her blog. Usually when I make cards, I make them two at a time ~ so I guess I made two for her blog!!

 

I started out with some fabulous paper that I found.  This is an 8x8 stack called The Colorful Life and each page looks like a piece of art!!

I took this piece of paper from the pad, and added a sheet of music paper from Immortal Love, and a piece of blue from my Shimmer Stack.

I welded this frame and shadow from Gypsy Wanderings together to form a card (3.95h). I took a flower from Mother's Day Bouquet (3.08h) and used Hide Contour to hide the inside cuts. Then I welded the flower into the frame.

I copy and pasted (before I hid the inner cuts) the large flower twice. I added another flower in two sizes (1.59h and 1.35h).

I wanted a liner for the card, so I opened a Layer 2 and copied the shadow of the frame. I made it a little smaller than the card (3.71h).

 I cut out the pieces and used my Martha Stewart Score Board to score the card in half (4 inches).

I used Vintage Photo and Fired Brick to ink the flower pieces.

 

I crumpled the flowers a little for some texture and added a pearl to the center of the flower. I used glue dots to piece the flowers together.

I used one of Joy's Life All Around Sentiment stamps for the inside of the cards.

 

Here is the second card.  I switched the card and liner for a different look.

I had fun making these window cards Sassy Style!

Thank you Sheila for sharing my project on your blog today!!!