Christmas Cards with Cricut and Copics - feat Echo Park Paper and Graphic 45

Wow, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I posted!  We've had nasty colds making the rounds at our house keeping me busy... anyway, this month on the Cutters Creek blog we are featuring die-cutting.  So I decided to bust out my Cricut Expression.

One of my favorite things to do with my Cricut for cards is to make nice mats or frames for images.  So, I thought I would show you one of each on some Christmas cards I made.  Just a quick note: I use my Gypsy for this purpose, but if you have Design Studio or Cricut Craft Room, you can use them in the same manner.

First up, an elegantly simple card using papers from Graphic 45's Christmas Emporium paper pad.

5x7 card base

I started with a kraft card base.  I chose my design from the "Santa Express" sheet of images, cut it out, and measured its height & width.  Using my Cricut Gypsy, I chose a frame I liked from the Elegant Edges cartridge that had a similar height/width ratio. (Remember, Kim can special order just about any cartridge you want!)  I then "unlocked" the height and width fields so they wouldn't adjust together.  I then adjusted the height and width independently until the inner opening of the frame was approximately the same size as my cutout design.  (Slightly larger is great!)  I then cut the frame using some coordinating cardstock.

I then cut a 4.5"x6.5" mat from the green side of the "Merry and Bright" sheet.  I distressed the edges of all of my papers and my card bases using a sponge tool.  I adhered the green paper to the card, then layered on the frame using the ASI Kool Tak clear foam squares.  Next, I adhered the cutout design within the frame.  Finally, I added a touch of Polar White Flower Soft to my holly for added dimension.  VERY easy!

My second card takes a bit more time, but totally worth the effort for its beauty!

5x7 card base

I began with my vintage Santa stamp.  Mine is from Close To My Heart.  Using the transparent ruler in my Cricut Tool Kit, I measured the approximate size of my stamp image.  I then chose a doily mat I liked from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge, and used my Gypsy to resize it until it was an appropriate size for my image, and cut it out.

I stamped my Santa image with Memento Tuxedo Black, colored it with Copic markers, then added his hat band and pom pom using white Liquid Applique sprinkled with clear glitter.  Note: to get this effect, sprinkle the glitter while the Liquid Applique is wet, then let it dry for a couple of hours before you heat it with your embossing gun.  I then distressed the entire image by sponging on some distress ink.  I also used the ink on my Doodle Bug twine so it would match better.  I stamped a small holly image on scrap as well, and colored & cut it out to use as an accent.

I used papers from Echo Park Paper's Season's Greetings 6x6 paper pad to create my background.  I used a brick Texture Fades embossing folder to create my accent piece on coordinating cardstock, then added additional dimension by distressing with multiple colors of ink.  I edged all of my paper pieces in black ink, since my image was stamped in black - it helps tie everything together.  I assembled the card, and popped up the image using the Kool Tak clear foam squares.

If you're interested, here's a list of specific Copic colors used in the Santa image:
E000, E00, E11, R20, R24, C2, Y17, YR04, YG63, G99, R29, R35, R39, and 0 colorless blender