Mittens Winter Themed Card

The mittens are from the Artiste cartridge, modified and cut in Make The Cut software.  I added some white Signo pen trim on the cuffs and attached some baker's twine onto the back.

The tag is something I had on hand; I colored the reinforced circle with an Old Olive Stampin' Up marker, shaded the edges and stamped a small sentiment across the bottom edge.

The snowflakes were done with an EK Success punch I found at WalMart two years ago.

Inspired by a card seen online.

Artiste Birthday Card

Another card inspired by Joy Tracy at Obsessed With Scrapbooking.  She used several layers from the Cricut Artiste cartridge to make a square fall themed thank you card.  I followed her measurements and made an A2 , 5 1/2 x 4 1/4", card.

The shapes from the cartridge were traced using Make The Cut software and cut on my Cameo.  Using the shadow feature in the software I added a pink layer under the white sentiment layer then added a small punched flower with a pearl center.

Design by Joy Tracy

Design by Joy Tracy

Artiste Scalloped Circle Card

Ever since I got Make The Cut to use with my Cricut Expression, it's been my go-to software program to do die cuts.

Today, Joy Tracy posted a video on her blog Obsessed With Scrapbooking featuring the scalloped circle card on the Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge.  I had never used any of the shaped cards from that cartridge and was inspired by hers to give it a try.  Joy did use her Cricut and their software for her card.

I traced the image in MTC and cut it on my Cameo using Joy's dimensions.  A 2 1/4" circle fits perfectly inside the scalloped circle.


The butterfly was stamped using Ladybug Red Memento Ink and a stamp from Stampin' Up that coordinates with their Elegant Butterfly punch.

The sentiment is from a stamp set I've had for some time.  I'm not certain which company it's made by.

Joy cut her card at 5 1/4" so it's slightly smaller than an A2.

The scalloped edges link together to form a closure.

The cream colored insertion will give plenty of space to jot a note.  I cut a narrow strip of cardstock to trim the lower edge.

Heart and Wings Card

This may just be my favorite card ever!  A mixed media artist from the UK posted a photo on her blog of a frame she made and I adapted her idea for a card.  You can see the original at inkypinkycraft.

I've always thought that white on white layouts were elegant looking.  It took me quite a while to pick papers that fit together for the look I wanted.

Everything was cut in Make The Cut software.  The heart is from Stampin' Up's My Digital Studio.  The wings are from the Cricut cartridge Artiste and the postage stamp frame is from Elegant Edges.  I joined a rectangle inside the stamp shape to create the frame.

The base was embossed with my brocade Cuttlebug folder.  There three pieces of crimped 15.2 m steel wire across the heart.  I pop dotted the frame as well as the wings for dimension. The edges were inked with Chestnut Roan.

My Totally CASED Card

My friend, Shirley, posted a card on Facebook very much like this one.  She knew I'd CASE her idea because I always do!  This is my version of her card.

The hot air balloon is from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.  I cut out some clouds, layered them and pop dotted them for dimension.

The sentiment is a Stampin' Up stamp and punch.  I added a faux line from the balloon to the tag as well as a faux brad with a marker.

Now that I've completed a few of these, I'm off to CASE an owl card she posted today! LOL!

Gift Bags

Shirley and I found a great sale on small gift bags and bought quite a lot of them.  We decorate them with scrapbook paper and embellishments to personalize them.  Here are three that I made to include in the Secret Sister swap at the swarm today. 

Once or twice a year, a group of us gather at a local scrapbook store for a day of paper crafting, laughing, eating and shopping.  This year the swarm, as we call the meet-up, is being hosted by Carrie Elmore at the scrapbook store, Scrapbook Alley, in Harrah. 

 The paper is from Paper Studio.  I used Make The Cut software and my Expression to cut the letters.  The balloon is from the Artiste cartridge.

 The dragonfly is from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The letters are done in Jewels HMK font and cut with Make The Cut software.  I love using the true type fonts and that program for words.  The border was done with an EK Success punch.

I chose not to embellish this one since the patterned paper is so busy.  The tag is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and the scallop border is from Elegant Edges.  Again, I chose to cut them using MTC software.

Each bag has a gift tag and tissue paper so they're ready to use.  I hope Kathy Lawson likes them since she's my Secret Sister today.

A Dozen Butterfly Cards

Well things certainly didn't go the way I had planned this afternoon!  I've been working so hard on OWH cards that I decided to take a break from card making and tackle some other type of project after I got home from the post office where I mailed my box of 274 cards.

I've had a book in my mind for over a week.  I know what I want to do and today was the day to start.  No, not today!  I don't have enough chipboard for the pages.  And, I discovered that after I'd spent about an hour looking for papers to use.  This did NOT make me happy!

So, I grabbed the first paper stack at hand and made myself pick a random paper to use.  In every stack of paper I buy, it seems there's always three or four huge prints that are obviously intended for scapbook pages.  Most of the time I can do a fussy cut and use them.  That's what I did today.  I liked the colors in the paper and used some scraps to punch the butterflies.

The sentiment is a CTMH stamp that coordinates with the Artiste cartridge.  I used Design Studio to cut an oval to fit the stamp.  The stamp itself is a word balloon with a tail shaped part and I didn't want to use the sentiment that way.

Here are the dozen cards I finished this afternoon. ***there are actually only ten in the photo, but, trust me, I made a dozen!***     Guess it's time to tape up another priority mail box and see how long it will take me to fill it up!

Pocket Birthday Card

Close to My Heart sells the stamp I used for the stitching on the pocket.  The Artiste cartridge has a pocket shape on it and I used Design Studio to size it to fit the stamp.

The sentiment was printed using my card making software.  Inside it reads, "For the best birthday ever!"

More 30 Minute Christmas Cards

The snowflake is from the Artiste cartridge and cut from mica paper.  I was able to complete twelve of these cards this afternoon in between some housework and making two loaves of bread for our dinner!

30 Minute Christmas Card

Friday I purchased a 4.5 x 6.5 pad of Christmas cardstock.  I never buy small paper pads but the patterns in this one really caught my eye.  The scale of the designs is perfect for A2 sized cards.

Here are the first cards I've made from the stack.  I used the Artiste cartridge to cut the sentiment and then did some pen stitching on it with a white Signo gel pen.

The inside is blank so that it can be used as stationary.

Double Sided Cardstock

When I began making cards, I'd never buy double sided cardstock.  I told Shirley it was too hard for me to decide which side to use.  I'd get it out, look at it, be undecided and just put it back into the paper holder.

Once I realized that double sided cardstock is "automatically" color coordinated for you, I've learned to use it!  It speeds up my paper selection process when I'm trying to do some quick cards like today.  My Operation Write Home box needs about fifty more cards to be completely full.  By using double sided cardstock I made 15 cards in just under 1 1/2 hours.  Now, 35 more and I can tape up the box and get it on its way.

The paper I used has stripes on one side and a floral design on the other. I liked both sides so I used them both.

The sentiment is from a set of  TPC Studio stamps that I found at Tuesday Morning.  I used my Artiste cartridge and cut the light turquoise shape at 2" and the shadow at 2 1/4".  You can find the shape on page 33 in the Artiste handbook.

The butterflies were done using an EK Success and Martha Stewart punch and I added some dots of white pearl pen and Tulip Slick paint on them.

Facebook Challenge Card

This card is for the Old Cricut Community challenge on Facebook.  I used my Artiste cartridge and stamps for the banner.

Artiste and Art Philosophy Card

Yesterday my Artiste cartridge arrived and this afternoon is the first chance I've had to check it out.

Start to finish, I spent about three hours making six of these cards!  It takes me too long to decide what image to use, get it sized in Design Studio and pick papers.

This card has elements from both CTMH Artiste and Art Philosophy.  The key is from Art Philosophy and the key hole is from Artiste.  I had to cut them out of a couple of different colors of paper before deciding that the metallic gold on top of the olive green looked best on the background paper.

The sentiment was printed in Hallmark card software.  Then I cut the hearts from the Artiste cartridge and used blue painters tape to temporarily attach them onto a sheet of printer paper and print the words.

There's a little inking on the light green heart and around the outside edge of the card.

 The background paper is from a K & Company 12 x 12 stack.  It's another sheet with over sized designs so I cut it down to use for my A2 cards.

With so many great images on the Artiste cartridge, I really hope I can come up with a more elaborate card design than this!