Can't Leave Well Enough Alone...

I love my electronic cutters, both my trusty workhorse Cricut Expression and my fancy Silhouette Cameo. Many times my card designs end up being hybrids of both cutting systems, like this one from last week:

The original card idea started with an SVG file for a simple queen anne's lace floral 3" square gift tag from Lettering Delights. I wanted to make an A2 sized card out of the image, so I welded a solid rectangle onto the bottom of the tag file and resized it to 8 1/2"  wide x 5 1/2" tall. This gave me a panel at the bottom of the card that would hold a sentiment.

 

After cutting out the basic card, I adhered a Glacier blue 4 1/4" x 5 1/4" panel to the back of the card front.

 

This left me with a pretty card, but it was simply a solid peacock green silhouette against a lighter aqua base. I added Canary yellow and White Daisy panels to the bottom of the card and stamped a sentiment using the new Peacock ink color from CTMH. Better... but....

 

I wanted to get the white queen anne's lace flowers on there, but how to do it without having to glue on a gajillion teensy tiny bits of paper?

 

Make a new layer!

 

Going back to my Silhouette, I used the trace tool to make a copy of the floral area of the basic card. With the knife tool, I started cutting out and discarding the flower stems. I was careful to leave some shorter stems intact so the white florets could be cut out in one lacy piece. As a final touch I used Silhouette's point editing feature to extend the florets at the bottom so they would appear to spill over the edge of the window.

 

I cut this white lace layer from Close To My Heart White Daisy cardstock, because it's thicker and tougher, making it less likely to tear when I removed it from the cutting mat. Remember my tips for cutting White Daisy? Use a well-broken-in mat and double cut!

 

After I glued the florets in place using my Bonding Memories Dual Action Glue Pen (get one here from Sally's CTMH shop!), I was pretty happy.

 

Nice. Still needed something.

 

Leaves!

 

The September stamp of the month from Close To My Heart is called Paper Garden, and it has some very pretty images including leaves:

 

 

 

Happily, this stamp set is compatible with the Artiste Cricut Cartridge  from Close To My Heart. So, I cut a lovely pair of leaves using my Cricut and stamped the leaf image from the top right using the Peacock ink.

 

The leaves look a lot lighter than the sentiment, which used the same ink color. That's because I inked the stamp, stamped onto scrap paper, then stamped again onto scrap paper, THEN stamped onto the Glacier blue leaves I had cut out with my Cricut. Third generation stamping left a shadowy image on the leaves that I liked very much!

 

Almost there... still needed something. I added white Spun Sugar Stickles to the florets and a yellow organdy ribbon bow.

 

That's it! It's a card!

 

I love the result and it's proof that you don't need a lot of fancy patterned papers to make a pretty card. They're nice - but with creative touches, cardstock and a little ink, you can get lovely results.

 

And speaking of getting, want to get that Paper Garden stamp set?

 

Paper Garden is just $5 with a $50 order!

(or you can get it at its full price of $17.95 if your order is under $50).

 

It's only available through September, so hurry on over to my website! www.auntsally.ctmh.com

 

While you're there, check out the beautiful new ink and cardstock colors! Peacock is my favorite, but oooooh, aaaaah... there's also Poppy, Pomegranate, Sapphire, Saffron, Fern and Eggplant!!

 

I love new colors...

 

I've Adopted...

... some new stamps!

Yes, yes, I know... did I really NEED them?

Well, maybe not, but since I have a birthday coming up I gave myself permission to give these poor unfortunates a home. After all, they were there HANGING ON HOOKS in a cold, drafty craft store without access to ink or paper. Isn't that abuse of some kind? Psychologically, it seems very bad for them, if you ask me. Stamps need ink and paper to be happy and well-adjusted! So, although I couldn't rescue all of the little stamp babies in the store, I was able to bring these guys home to a place where they will be loved and cared for!

 

 Top left: "Hedgehugs" by Fawn Lawn. I can't say enough about how much I love Fawn Lawn stamps. They're photopolymer and the artwork is just too too cute, the sentiments clever. Since the store where I got this was having a 20% off "Made in the USA" sale, I got a great price, too!

 

Right: "Poppin' By" and "Life's A Circus" from Gourmet Rubber Stamps. This company is new to me, which is what I like about shopping at stores outside my local area. You find things you've just never seen before. These mini stamps are unmmounted red rubber and were under $6 each. Did you see the face on the little slice of toast? Could you leave that face on a shelf? I couldn't!

 

Left: "Good Luck" by Avery Elle. The Magic 8-Ball. It even has the border for the floaty triangle thingie. Do I have to say more? "My sources say no"! Am I going to have fun making cards with this set? "It is certain"! Am I in love with these stamps? "Without a doubt"! I was so overtaken with joy that I never even looked at the price tag. They were a must-have. Luckily, Made in USA so I saved 20% today.

 

I have to give a shout-out to Ivy, the sweet cashier at Flower & Home Marketplace who checked out my order. Today the store was very busy and the cashiers had to inspect EVERY item to see if it qualified for the "Made in USA" sale price. She was jovial, very accommodating and helpful, and even cheered me on when I combined a birthday coupon with some customer rewards to save big money on my order! If you're in the Lancaster, PA area, check out Flower & Home Marketplace in Blue Ball / East Earl. Make sure you sign up for their customer rewards and e-mails, and tell Ivy I sent you!

Hello Christmas!

More Christmas cards - or maybe I should say "Kitty-mas" cards!

I got these SVG files from blogs - sorry, no idea whose blogs - way back when the Cameo was new. They've been sitting in a folder for all that time, and when I happened upon them the other day I thought they'd make adorable shaped Christmas cards! Kitty makes me want to say, "Hello, Christmas!".

Here's how I did it:

First, I resized the files so they would fit into an A2 envelope - no bigger than 5.5" tall and 4.25" wide.

The original files had details that would have made WAY too many teeny tiny pieces to glue together, so I deleted some of them, such as stripes on the shirt and the buttons on the clothing.

TIP: When cutting out little pieces, use a piece of Post-it label paper as a "parking spot" so the tiny bits don't get lost. Post-it label paper has Post-it glue ALL OVER the surface, so it's tacky enough to hold onto the tiny pieces but they are easy to remove when you're ready to glue the shape together!

To create a cut file for the card back, I traced the outline of the black Kitty base shape using the trace tool. Then, using the line tool, I drew a perforated line across the top of the traced shape about 1" from the top. This creates a card back that can be attached to the front at that 1" wide top edge. Bending the card back slightly at the perforated line creates a card that stands up beautifully. If your cutter doesn't have a way to draw a perforated line, simply omit this step and score the card back with a bone folder after cutting.

I cut the card backs out of Close To My Heart White Daisy cardstock***, stamped a sentiment on them and then attached them to the paper pieced card fronts. Added some bling and ribbon embellishments, and Tada!!! Paper pieced shapes are now adorable cards!

Close To My Heart cardstock cuts beautifully in all electronic cutters. The smooth texture and even grain of the paper prevents those blade skips and hanging chads that can be so frustrating! If you like creating with your Cameo or your Bug, give it a try! I think you'll like it!

***A note about the White Daisy cardstock - I love it, it stamps great, BUT - it's heavier than other CTMH papers and clay-coated, so it really, really REALLY sticks to Cricut and Silhouette mats! You'll get a great cut and no paper stuck to your mat if you use

Sally's Secret Method to cut White Daisy:

 

1. Select a well-broken-in cutting mat that's not too sticky. Do NOT use a new mat for White Daisy or any clay-coated stock!

 

2. Grab a roll of painter's tape (Scotch Blue works great!) and tape the corners of the cardstock to the mat. This keeps your paper from shifting, just as insurance, because remember, the mat hasn't got a lot of sticky left. You can also use washi tape if you have no painter's tape, but it hurts my heart to use that pretty washi for such a pedestrian purpose!!

 

3. Select the right setting for your machine. All cutting machines are different, so I highly suggest testing settings on scrap before you cut a project! On my Silhouette Cameo, I use a ratchet blade setting of 5. On my good old Cricut Expression, I set the blade to 6.

4. Double cut. Your blade setting is deep enough to cut through your paper, but some heavy papers are fibrous as well as thick, and the double cutting gets all the way through those extra-tough bits.

Happy cutting!!

It's Here! It's Here!!!

...the NEW Close To My Heart Idea Book!!

Ready to shop??? Browse?? Drool???

GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Shop Sally's CTMH Website!!
(Don't forget to click on "Join Sally's September Gathering" before you load your cart up with joy!!!)

Have fun!!!