Friday, June 24, 2011

Wrap it Up - Old Fashioned Car

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I wanted to make sure that the Father's Day card I sent to my husband's father made it on time before I posted it. Then the week zipped by. Hopefully he won't think that I'm implying that he's circa 1920 or whenever this car is from, but I really liked it so made it in a couple colors. For this card, I went with dark cards to make it more masculine despite the swirls. Actually, I'm almost positive that the decorative swirls are in the shape of peppers, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but oh well. The important thing is that it's cute. I lined the inside with white cardstock and stamped "Happy Father's Day" using the My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments stamp set. Here's his card:

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Materials:
Cardstock: Paper Trey Ink, Stampin Up, misc
Paper: My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose collection
Cartridge: Wrap it Up
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink
Stamp: My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Pooh Album Cover

Here's the cover and the final page of my first Pooh album. I had originally intended to cut out the big tree that serves as Pooh's house, but it didn't turn out well. Using the fit to page function, the larges I could cut the tree was at 8.25", however the door and other features were far too tine. This sign was much more simple and allowed me to include yet another Pooh! The font is from American Alphabet.

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Next I'm not sure whether to make more pages or start filling our Disney pictures. All together, the Pooh & Friends pages offer about 11 photo mats, which may be couple more than I have of us with the characters. Stay tuned!

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Gang

When I started cutting names and faces, I had hoped to put a face with a name on separate pages. Then I realized that the names were cut too wide to fit with a head in most cases or just weren't proportionate even though cut at 4". However, the three of them fit together perfectly. I used stamps from the Pink by Design "Big Thoughts" collection and more paper from the My Mind's Eye Stella Rose collection.

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Although Pooh and Eeyore are my favorites, Piglet is right behind them. The Pooh and Friends cartridge has a number of fun cuts of the characters in all sorts of poses. I especially like this dancing one as it looks like Piglet is having so much fun. Piglet's cut at 8" and his name at 4". I continued to use paper from the My Mind's Eye Stella Rose paper collection. The gorgeous fuchsia ribbon came free with a purchase, possibly from Chicos.

I've now finished all the pages that will go in the Pooh section of my Disney album, except for the pictures, of course. I have two more to show you, so check back later today or tomorrow!

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Tigger

I don't see the draw, but Tigger's my husband's favorite. I must say that this page came together quite nicely and I was even able to use an image that I had cut out some time ago. The swirly bracket is from American Alphabet, although I do not remember what size it is cut at. Tigger's face is cut at 4" and his name at 3.5". The twine is from Paper Trey Ink and the paper from the My Mind's Eye Stella Rose collection. I distressed the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and did some simple stitching around the letters. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Pooh

Here's the second layout I finished today. Pooh's cut at 8" and the title at 4". The ribbon is from Paper Trey Ink and the paper is more from the My Mind's Eye called Stella Rose.

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Eeyore

Last night I designed four new pages, which I hope to finish today. here's the first. I've now cut all the characters at 8" and have been amazed at the differences in sizing. I suppose when the characters are walking about Disneyland, it's useful if they're roughly the same size so adults or pimply teenagers, more likely, can dress as them, but it's quite strange to see the them all same size when cut out on a page. Notwithstanding, when featuring them separately, I will cut them as big as I want. I used pattern paper from My Mind's Eye called Stella Rose for the photo mat. Eeyore's cut at 8" while his name is at 4".

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Neglected Cartridges

Updated 10-5-11

When I updated the list of my collection last week, I felt quite guilty to realize that there are a number of cartridges that I have never used or have failed to give the serious attention that they deserve. Although it could be worse--no cartridge is still in its packaging because I love pouring over the handbooks--I must make a decided effort to spread the love around, especially to cartridges that have a ton of potential to become awesome projects. I hope to permanently link this post somewhere on the main page and update it as I make progress. Below I've divided my neglected cartridges into two categories. "New/Unused" means that I've never cut a single image. "Neglected" simply means that I haven't used them as much as I would like.

New/Used
1. Country Life
2. Preserves
3. 50 States
4. Mickey and Friends - As soon as I finish the Pooh pages, this will be used to complete my Disney trip album.
5. Better Together
6. Happy Hauntings - It's not too early to start preparing for Halloween, is it?
7. Best of Pixar - Like the Disney cartridges, I was a little intimidated by all the tiny pieces in this cart, but I know I can do it!
8. Cricut Lite - Yee Haw
9. Circut Lite - 9 Months
10. Locker Talk


Neglected
1. My Community
2. Sesame Street Seasons - I cut a ton of snowflakes from this cart, but no characters yet.
3. Cricut Lite - Savory - This is a perfect compliment to From My Kitchen and Preserves
4. Cricut Lite - Carousel - This contains really fun amusement park images; I can't believe I haven't done a ton with it. (Updated 9/15 - I started making an album but quit after finishing only a couple of pages).
5. Pack Your Bags - I have cut a number of images from this cart, but have a ton of ideas and am dying to use it more.
6. Boys Will be Boys - Between this and Beep Beep, I'm set for toy vehicles
7. Stand and Salute - Big projects in the planning for this one
8. Happily Ever After - Like Sesame Street, I've cut loads of accessories, but not Disney images. Now that my skills have improved and I have my Cutterbee tweezers, I should be up for the challenge.
9. Cricut Lite - Block Party - I made a single bbq card last summer. Must make more this year!
10. Nifty Fifties - I have a ton of ideas for this cart, but just haven't made them happen yet.
11. Baby Steps - I'm in love with this cartridge and must, must, must make time for it soon!


I'm not going to count the cartridges that were freebies or came with a machine such as Potpourri, Indie Art, Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, and Printing Press. All of those I have neglected, but don't feel too guilty about because I didn't specifically purchase them. As for the others, particularly those on my New/Unused, I will do my best to pay some attention to them soon as their cuteness deserves it!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Winnie the Pooh - Thinking of You

Here's the last layout I made over the weekend with the Pooh and Friends cartridge. Pooh's cut at 8" and the grass and worm are at 1.5 - 2". The butterfly is at 2.5". The sentiment is cut at 1.75" from American Alphabet.

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

My Collection

I just updated my "Cricut Owned" and my "Cricut Wish List" which can be found along the right side of my blog. I still need to go back and include some links, but I all my new cartridges are listed. Can you believe that I have purchased or otherwise received 3 new Cricut machines and 24 new cartridges since moving back to Hawaii a little over 6 months ago? Isn't that insane? To be fair, around Christmas time, Provocraft and all the online venors dropped their price dramatically in anticipation of Provocraft flooding the market not only with a new Expression but also with a ton of new cartridges. Prices have "stabilized" in the last few months (read: increased), but are still not quite at their average 2010 prices, which makes them generally more affordable. Additionally, instead of releasing new cartridges at a suggested retail price of 89.99, most cartridges seem to be priced at $55.99, which means a drop to the $30s, which is generally the max I'd pay for a cartridge, isn't too dramatic.

Some of the new cartridges I received last month include:

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I do plan on eventually tagging projects with the cartridges for easy reference, but like many, that organizing project is a ways off. Thanks for visiting. Check back for another Pooh layout soon!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Pooh & Friends Layout - Togetherness

The idea for this layout is from the Pooh & Friends booklet, although the suggested project is a card and included Tigger instead of Eeyore. I cut the tree limb at 3.25" and each of the characters at 3". The stamp is from the Pink by Design "Big Thoughts" stamp set.

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Pooh & Friends Layout

Here's the finished Pooh layout. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to assemble the pieces. I'm already planning my next project with this cart. I used Pooh and Friends, as well as Pooh Font. The sizes are noted below.

Here's the completed double layout. Each page is 12 x 12".

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Details:
Bee hive - 5"
Pooh - 8"
Honey pot - 2.5"
Piglet - 6.25"
Eeyore - 5"
Flower - 3"
Tigger - 8"
Title - 1.75"
Photo mats are 6.25 x 4.25" with 6 x 4" mats

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Last, but not least, Eeyore!

I know I promised that the next post would be the the actual layout, but I still have a couple embellishments still to make. I'm not 100% pleased with the colors used for Eeyore. Can you believe that I actually didn't have the right blueish-gray color in my dozen different shades of blue? Oh well, it's close enough for now.

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Here's the whole gang!

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Here's T - I - Double G - ER!

Here's Tigger! He's 8", just like Pooh. As soon as I finish Eeyore, I'll be ready to assemble my first Winnie the Pooh layout. Can't wait!

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A friend for Pooh!

I promise that I will start making actual projects soon, but for now check out Pooh and Piglet. I cut Pooh at 8" and Piglet at 6.25".

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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Look who finally arrived!!!

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A week or so ago, I finally decided to scrap our pictures from Disneyland taken in April 2010. Naturally, I had to order these two:

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Even though Disney images are notoriously difficult to put together because there are numerous and often tiny pieces, I think my skills are finally up to the challenge. Plus, if the cuts are large enough, as in the case of Winne whom I cut at a whopping 8", I think I'll be okay.

I'm not sure where I'll put Winnie, possibly on the wall in a frame, but for now he's propped up against my new Cricut E2 just watching over my craft table.