Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #35 - Masculine Birthday with Metal

Happy Tuesday!  I'm excited to share with you the card I made for Celebrate the Occasion's Challenge #35.  This week's theme is all about celebrating a guy's birthday with metal!  I think my project is perfect for any guy -- big or little -- who's into science and space.

I've never used metal on a project, so I was a little concerned about what I'd do for this challenge.  I've been trying to not buy many new craft supplies, and I'd already blown my weekly "allowance" when it was time to work on this card.  That's when my mind wandered to the aluminum foil in the kitchen...

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - patterned paper from DCWV - Nana's Kitchen; textured cardstock by Bazzil Bling; non-textured cardstock by Recollections; Reynolds aluminum foil
• Cricut Cuts - rocket from Nifty Fifties, page 28
• Embossing - rocket with Cuttlebug's Spots & Dots; aluminum foil background with The Paper Studio's Mesh Texture
• Other - rocket on pop dots; inking with orange, green, and cyan Colorbox ink pads; sentiment stamp from Michaels $1 bin

Yes, there's an actual layer of the rocket cut from aluminum foil with my Cricut!  But I won't lie; it was hard!  I had the pressure and speed set as low as possible and my blade height was at 1 -- and I still had to cut that layer eight times to get a usable piece!  I think using a heavier-weight foil would help with those issues.  Or perhaps choosing a cut that doesn't have many intricate turns or narrow pieces.

My favorite thing about working with the foil was how great it looks when embossed.  I squealed with delight the first time I ran it through the Cuttlebug and saw the result!  Now I want to try foil in all my embossing folders!

I challenge you to head over to Celebrate the Occasion and participate in our male metal challenge.  And if you don't want to invest in specialty paper, consider giving aluminum foil a try -- I was very pleased with the result.

Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #27 - Circle-Shaped Card

Tuesday means it's time to Celebrate the Occasion!  We're celebrating any event this week with a circle-shaped card.

I'm always making cards for other people, but this week I actually made a card for me.  I love funky glasses and have worn fun frames since my first pair of glasses in college, so I made a cute "just because" card with my signature frames:

 

Card Details:

• Card Base - Studio G (5" diameter)
• Papers - patterned paper by American Crafts - Everyday; green cardstock by Bazzil Basics; all other from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - glasses and background from Nifty Fifties, page 53; font for "hi" sentiment from Doodletype
• Cuttlebug Embossing - background layer with Spots & Dots
• Other - inking with green Colorbox petal point ink pad; gems from Michaels $1 bin; top layer of glasses on pop-dots

Join us in making a circle-shaped card at Celebrate the Occasion this week.  I'm eager to see what you make, so leave me a comment pointing me to your awesome projects!

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge Me Monday #70 - Melon Time

It's Challenge Me Monday at Fantabulous Cricut -- and I'm so excited!  This week's theme promises inspiration for many fantabulously fun projects -- and it's also my first on the design team!

This week's challenge is "Melon Time," and we were asked to create a project featuring a fruit or melon.  I've made a watermelon card already this summer (and...well, I don't really like watermelon...I know, I know!), so I chose a different fruit as my card's star:

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - patterned paper by American Crafts - Everyday paperpack; textured cardstock by Core'dinations; all other cardstock by The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - cherry/background combo and "cherry" sentiment from Nifty Fifties, page 66
• Other - sentiment printed with Corbel font and formatted with MS Publisher; inking and faux stitching with scarlet Le Plume II marker; more inking on cherry with red petal point ink pad by Colorbox; cherry and its background on pop dots.

These colors sure make my mouth water for a cherry limeade from Sonic!  I tried a little something different with the asymmetrical band of paper stretching across the sentiment area, and I think it turned out cute.  All the cuts on Nifty Fifties have fun, unexpected background shapes that make me want to try different angles and arrangements.

Now it's your turn!  Swing by Fantabulous Cricut to check out the other DT members' creations (there's lots of watermelons -- I promise!), and then share your own melon/fruit project with us.

Happy crafting Monday!

Retro Housewarming Card

Another cut I love from the Nifty Fifties cartridge is the ranch house -- it's just so cute!  We live in a neighborhood built in the late '50s/early '60s with houses just like this cut; in fact, our home is pretty similiar -- just add another garage door and subtract the decorative cinder blocks.

This card is for a couple who just moved into their first home.  We weren't able to attend the housewarming party, so I'm sending this greeting instead.

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - patterned paper from American Crafts - Play paperpack; cardstock from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - house from Nifty Fifties, page 47; "Congrats!" sentiment from Cricut Classic Font, page 66
• Cuttlebug Embossing - blue background with Spots & Dots
• Other - doodling with white Gelly Roll pen and yellow-green Le Plume II marker

The house has another layer for the white cinder block and window frame accents.  But with the house cut at 2.25 inches, this layer was just too small and delicate.  Instead, I doodled the accents with a white Gelly Roll pen and added shadow with a yellow-green Le Plume II marker.

Okay, no more cards until I do some chores around the house... :)

Cool Cat Birthday Card

Guess what I got in the mail today...?!  My (somewhat) free cartridge from the Michaels / Provocraft rebate!  And I got Nifty Fifties -- my first choice!  I seriously did a happy dance when I opened the envelope.

I wanted this cartridge for two specific cuts -- the cat and the glasses.  So I couldn't resist cranking out a simple birthday card with the cat tonight:

Card Details:

• Card Base - Studio G (5x5")
• Papers - patterned paper from American Crafts - Play; all other cardstock from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - cat from Nifty Fifties, page 23; tag is <cute_s> and its coordinating layer from Playtime
• Cuttlebug Embossing - Dots & Spots on yellow shape behind cat
• Other - sentiment stamp by Hampton Ink

I love this retro look!  I also seem to be using a lot of orange lately, huh?

The Pink Stamper is having a birthday challenge today, so I'm submitting this card to her contest.  Check out her Birthday Crazy Card Challenge and play along!