Brrrr!

How about a little Christmas in July! With our recent extremely high temperatures, I thought it would be "cool" to make a Christmas card. After visiting some challenge blogs, I chose some themes to incorporate so I can participate in the challenges.
My card is 5 x 6 1/2 inches from white basic cardstock. I cut a 1" x 6 1/2 piece of white Colorbok for the edge of the card. My papers are all from my scrap stash. I used the Martha Stewart Aspen Snowflake edge punch on the edge of the red designer paper and layered it on the 1' x 6 1/2". Then it was glued to the front of the card.
I am so excited how the Cricut cuts turned out on this card. Not only did I use the Cricut to cut the images, but I also used Cricut Colors ink markers to draw the gloves and word Brrrr!. I will admit that I used my older Expression for the color markers. There is a lot about the Expression 2 that I have not tried yet!
Using a white DMC Memory Thread, the gloves are connected to the Anna Griffin decorative brad to appear as if they are hanging. If you are not familar with DMC Color Infusion Memory Thread, it is a fiber wrapped wire that is be used on sewing projects. It is great in our card making too. I found the Memory Thread at Michael's on the aisle with the regular DMC thread for embroidery/cross-stitch.
Lots of inking! Pop dots- 1/16" on the mat and 1/8" on the gloves!
I think the card turned out pretty cool!
Cricut Cartridges:
Joys of the Season - Mittens on page 51 cut 1 3/4"
Winter Frolic - Sentiment "Brrr!" on 33 cut 1 3/4- Phrase and shadow features

Challenges:
Sassy Lil' Card Sketch - Sketch (Maybe I did not get too carried away with the sketch.)
Cooking With Cricut - Cricut markers or a sun if you do not have markers.
BBTB - Joy of the Season Gloves
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas in July
Christmas Card Challenges - Faith/Christmas in July
2 Sisters Challenge Blog - Christmas in July
If The Shoe Fits - Ruby
Hope you enjoy!

4th of July

Hi and thanks for dropping by today! It has been awhile since I have been able to post on my blog. Today I have a 4th of July card to share with you. So many challenges this week are requiring red, white, and blue or something to do with Independence Day. I love this celebration and our patriotic colors so I wanted to participate! I was striving for the Americana feel without the bright, pure colors. I really like the stripe and star patterned papers. They are leftover from last year's Patriotic challenges and I have been hoarding these papers for a year.

Card is 5" x 6 1/2". I am using Card Patterns Sketch 121 and this is my take on the sketch!

All my cuts are from Cricut Independence Day 2010 cartridge.

Flag banner- 2", Top mats -3.25" and 3.50". This cut has no shadow so I increased the cut by .25 inch and it works fine. 4 of July - 2", and hat is 2".

Cuttlebug folder is Measure x Measure set using the stars folder for the strip. I embossed an extra piece of red and blue papers, handcut the stars out, and placed them on the card.

I used lots of inking and pop-dotted the mats and the hat.

Challenges:

Card Patterns - Sketch 121

My Sheri Crafts - #63 Independence Day

Fantabulous Cricut - #66 Happy 4th - red, white, and blue

Celebrate the Occasion -#20 4th of July - red, white, and blue

Craft Us Crazy - #11 Red, white and blue and/or Summer theme

Use it Tuesday - #10 Inspiration colors- red, white, and blue

Amber's Crafts and Stuff - #16  red, white, and blue

Scrapbookaholic by Abby #8 red, white, and blue

My Craft Spot - #14 Seeing Stars

Love Struck Hearts

  

This is another new card style for me which I thought would make a pretty Valentine card for a friend. The tutorial for the Triangle Trifold card can be found at Split Coast Stampers. I chose to make the card bigger than the instructions given in the tutorial by using a piece of 4 x 12 cardstock and scoring it at 4 and 8 inches.

The finished card size is 4x4 inches. My heart cuts are from Cricut Love Struck 2010.  The heart on the outside of the card is cut at 3 inches. The Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder was used on the blackout which was also cut at 3 inches. 3-D dots were used only on left hand side of the heart so as not to completely close card. Pearls and ribbon are from my stash of goodies.

Another heart from the Love Struck cartridge was used on the inside mat. Heart and the blackout were cut at 3 inches. The sentiment Love was cut at 1 1/2 inches and positioned on the lower part of the heart. My photo of the inside of the card is not too good. Hopefully you can see how the card is scored and folded on the diagonal of the left and right edges. This was a fun and easy card to make. Hope you will try it!

Challenges:

Bitten by the Bug2 - Love Struck cartridge - more than one heart
The Cuttlebug Spot - Tri-Fold Cards -Valentine
Passionately Artistic -- Fun Ideas for Valentine Day 2011--Be Inspired Linking Party
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes