Snapshot

Hello all!
 You know how certain iconic items become all the rage? I've seen things like those old rotary fans, coffee stain stamps and more. Lately I've seen the viewmaster disks around. What memories those bring back!

Just recently someone on the Cricut message board asked me where I get my ideas for layouts. I get inspiration from everywhere, but I have no problem scraplifting! Especially if I want to experiment in a style of crafting that I'm not used to doing... as is the case with this layout... I am never quite comfortable doing layouts like this... But I like how it turned out. Sometimes I just see one little thing somewhere that inspires, sometimes the whole layout inspires me. In the latter case, I often translate someone's layout into a "sketch" and go from there, using my own supplies to re-interpret the "sketch". Today's layout is definitely scraplifted! It was her viewmaster disk that caught my eye at first, but then I fell in love with the whole layout. To see my inspiration, click here.

However I did not have any viewmaster disk embellishments. So I had to create one! That meant a little research. It turned out that Capadia had made a tutorial for a cut file for a different machine. I was able to translate that to my gypsy and created my own viewmaster disk cut file for my cricut on my gypsy. You can download the Gypsy viewmaster disk file from Box.com by clicking here.

The gypsy file includes the disk in two sizes, the smaller one is based on measurements I found for the disks... close but not quite exact I am sure. The larger one was the size I wanted for my layout. The images are grouped separately so you can move them or resize them as you please. On the second layer is a blackout version of the disk, in case you want a black background for the photo holes, as I did in this layout.

By the way, this layout was made entirely with stash that I've had from 4 months to 4 years. :)  I dug out several things I'd made ages ago and stored away (grungepaper flowers, UTEE'd heart).

Thanks for coming to see my project today!

Cricut Info and supplies used:
Designed by: Michele Donner-Ramsey
Machines used:  Expression, Gypsy
Cartridges used:  Elegant Edges, viewmaster file: B is for Boy, George, Plantin
Other tools: Sizzix, Tim Holtz rosettes dies, EK notebook punch
Other supplies:  The Girls' Paperie letters, Printed cardstock from Graphic 45, Studio Calico, Simple Stories. Camera rubon from Kaiser, seam binding, Art Parts hand, grungepaper, buttons, Charlene's Button Box button (yellow square button). twine.

We Are Together

Here's a kit I finished a couple weekends ago. We just came from a couple months of doing things with our families. Not all of it may have been holiday related! I design these kits for a few friends of mine and they like these more general pages sometimes.  :) As a bonus, everything in this layout was from my stash!

I really like the "bird on a wire" imagery I found in the printed papers. I wanted a border along the bottom that mimics the print. I did a search on my Gypsy and didn't find anything like that on any cartridge I had. So, I created my own!  I am providing a link to the gypsy file below, please feel free to use it on your own pages! If you post it on your blog, let me know, I'd love to see it. :)

The images I chose are a little whimsical but kind of formal. I wanted a bird image but I also chose the chair because when we visit some of my family, we spend a lot of time sitting and watching the birds through their patio doors. The images evoke those wonderful memories of past gathers for me.

Adhesive-backed pearls add accents to the cuts.

I design on my Gypsy and sometimes I don't pay much attention to sizes. I will list the sizes here but if you don't have a Gypsy, you can always round the size to the nearest quarter inch.

The bird and birdcage are from Sophie, and were cut at 5.38"

The label behind is cut from Elegant Edges at 4.7"

"Together" is from Sophisticated and cut at 2.75"

"we are" is also cut from the Sophisticated font, cut at 1"

The chair is from Sophisticated and cut at 5.69"

The birds on a wire were welded from several cartidges: a stretched dash from Plantin and birds from Heritage, Everyday Pop-up Cards and Picturesque.

Here is a link to the Gypsy cut file of the birds on a wire only.

Cricut Info and supplies used:

Cricut machines used:  Expression, Gypsy

Cartridges used: Sophie, Elegant Edges, Sophisticated, Plantin, Heritage, Everyday Pop-Up Cards, Picturesque

Other Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, We R Memory Keepers Antique Chic printed cardstock, adhesive flat-back pearls, Distress Ink Black Soot, adhesives

Winter Holiday Cards

So, I've been trying to make our winter holiday cards for the last few years. I try to make a "simple" design in the hopes I get them done quick, but gluing these together took a while so they weren't as simple as I'd wanted. lol

This year I also wanted to stick to using only my stash, which meant that I had to find enough cardstock of each color to make the cut top layer, and another layer for one of the mats. Fortunately, I found enough cool blues and purples to make these. A few of these colors may be non-traditional but hey... I managed to not buy a thing! :)  I still need to do something with the insides, probably a stamped sentiment. But at least I got 40 of these done and I can finish up the stamping this weekend.

These cards were created by welding snowflakes and a sentiment from several cartridges into a rectangle frame that I sized to fit a card that would fit into a regular size #10 business envelope. See below for the cartridges used!

Cricut Info and other supplies used:
Designed by Michele Donner-Ramsey

Cricut machines:  Expression and Gypsy
Cartridges used:  A Child's Year, Cake Basics, Christmas, Country Life (Sentiment), Art Philosophy, Joys of the Season, MS Seasonal Cake Art, Plantin
Supplies: white and colored cardstock, adhesive

Parisian Anthology #4

My second to last project with my Parisian Anthology kit from Scrapaganza's Scrappinista club is a year in review mini book. The box held the chip embellishments for the Parisian Anthology line. When I surfed over to the Pink Paislee blog, I saw that one of the designers had used the box to hold a mini album, and I thought with the year coming to a close, that was a good idea to do an end of the year review in photos and journaling.

I took 6 #10 envelopes, and folded the flaps down narrower than usual, making sure that the sealed envelope would be narrow enough to fit within the box. That ended up being 3 1/2 inches wide. I sealed the envelopes with glue. Then I cut off one end to make them 7 1/4 inches long. I covered the envelopes on both sides with my left over printed papers and some cardstock. Inked them up with Distress inks in Forest Moss, Rusted Hinge and Wild Honey.  To attach the pages together, I did not want to use rings as those would be too bulky to fit in the box. Instead I took 1 1/2 inch strips of scrap cardstock and used border punches on both sides of the strips. Cut them down to 3 inches long approximately and used those as "hinges", glued on the ends of two facing pages. I also covered the outside binding with an outside hinge (cut on my cricut with Storybook) so that it would look more finished.

I printed out 33 photos that summed up our year, at wallet size. With the photos and remaining chip and artisan elements, I filled the mini album and decorated it. I wrapped the outside hinge with a thin ribbon that I could tie in some jeweled charms, and added a few extra ribbons for texture.  The little mini calendar months that mark each page are from the Tim Holtz pad of paper "Lost and Found". They were perfect for this project.

The envelope pockets hold a tag; the tags were cut on my cricut with Plantin, sized on my gypsy to be 3x7. Coordinating ribbon is stapled to the tags as pulls. The tags will have all my journaling about the year, one month per side of tag. I just haven't had time to write it all yet as I had to get this kit stuff done! LOL

This was a fun project! Not only to make it, but also going back through pictures and remembering everything. I've never done a "year in review" type project before and I think I will be adding it every year to give myself a chance to remember everything!  I highly recommend everyone doing a layout or mini book to remember your year too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Packaging - Poinsettia "bow"

I found this idea on the Custom Crops website, in their designers' how-to section. The link to the tutorial for the 3D Poinsettias is here. There's also a cut file you can download but it was simple enough that I made this without the cut file. You just need Plantin or a similar leaf on another cricut cartridge.

The original tutorial was for 5 leaves of 3 different sizes, plus 3 green leaves of the largest size. I ended up not using my smaller leaves though, and I had cut extra of the larger size (due to technical difficulties) and when I started putting my poinsettia together, I ended up liking the way I made it with more of the larger leaves and less of the smaller anyway.  So, here's my recipe. You can do yours like Tanya's on the Custom Crops site or like mine or do it your way! :)

10 leaves from Plantin cut at 4 inches in red printed paper
5 leaves cut at 3 inches
3 leaves cut at 4 inches in the green for the non-flower leaves
pearls/beads for the flower center
pop dots and ink to ink edges if you like

The first layer is 5 leaves, pop dot the second layer on top of that. I overlapped the second layer in the center more to make the petals look smaller than the first layer. Pop dot the 3rd layer on top. Glue beads or pearls or use self-adhesive flat-backed pearls in the center. Adhere the green leaves at the bottom. Affix to your gift package. All done!

I remember when I was a kid, my grandma used to dress up her gifts by crafting the packaging. These days, it seems like everyone gives gifts in gift bags and the care and love in the packaging has given way to convenience and speed. I hope to add a little more care to the gift packages that I give this year.

Thanks for visiting!

Whoo do I Love?

I made this page a month ago! I only just now took a picture of it so I could post it.
I created this page for a Sizzix die cut class at Scrapaganza. The die I used is called "Angel Wings". But the projects I created for the class were to show things other than angels... why buy a die you can use only for one purpose? :)

I also used a scallop circle cut from Graphically Speaking on the Cricut, the beak is a leaf from Plantin cartridge. The fonts are Learning Curve and Cheerful Seasons.  The border punch is one of the punch-around-the-page punches.

I am rather fond of this layout! Thanks for looking!