My Sunshine - stamp of the month blog hop

Hello and welcome to the April stamp of the month blog hop! If you've arrived here from Jill Lucas' ScrapWench blog, or if you're just starting out, you are in the right place!  When you're done here, we'll head over to Allisa Chilton's Rocky Mountain Paper Crafts and see what she has for us this month.
This month we have a fun set of 8 stamps, My Sunshine, guaranteed to put you in a happy mood! I have a lot of ideas for this set, but I thought it was just calling out to be used on a scrapbook layout so that's what I did first.  Be sure to check back later in the month for a card idea (and hopefully more if I find time to play!).

I used Claire papers with a Kraft cardstock base and a sheet of Colonial White CS for all of my accents. (Click the photo to see it larger.)

 

Many of the stamps coordinate with the Artiste Cricut cartridge, and this fun sunshine was made with two of them. Cutting one Cricut shape gets both parts, cut separately, so I popped up the center on 3-D foam tape.  I used Sunset and Blush ink on both parts.  On the same page of the Cricut manual is this cute cloud shape, so I cut it in several sizes (from 1" - 2") in Colonial White. I flipped some so they weren't all going the same direction, and I lightly sponged Outdoor Denim ink on the bottom only for a little extra dimension.  I stamped the title in Sunset ink, cut out the letters, and sponged around the edges with Blush ink

 

This fun saying from Bob Marley was a perfect fit for my photos! Notice how I popped up some of the cloud shapes as well as the sun center.

I also made sure to pull the clouds down into the photo area, and up and out off the edges of my pages, trimming the excess. I think this makes the whole thing feel much more like a realistic scene rather than having everything in one little area.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today! I hope you liked my project, and I would love to hear what you think of it. Now let's head over to Rocky Mountain Paper Crafts and see what other great ideas we can get!

A Tisket, A Tasket - Creations by AR New Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the Creations by AR new release blog hop! Today we are featuring the sweet My Picnic Basket cutting file, available as SVG, DXF, and PDF for those who cut by hand.  You have a chance to win your very own copy of this cute template. How? Simple:

• Leave comments on each blog
• AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824
• AR PCP Group: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/creationsbyar

Comments accepted until Mar. 24 (12:00 noon EST)
One random winner will be announced Mar. 25:
AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824
AR PCP Group: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/creationsbyar
AR Blog:  http://cbyar.blogspot.com

So, what to do with this template?  Well, as my post title implies, I had this little song* in my head from the first time I saw it.  But green and yellow just didn't do it for me for some reason, and I wound up with this girly version:

I used Claire papers from Close To My Heart and kept it simple; I didn't feel like it really needed any embellishment. (Although, true to form, I did sponge Sunset ink on ALL of my edges and corners.)

I added bling brads to attach that cute braided handle to the basket - LOVE it!

I really dig the floral pattern on the lid here - I'm loving the idea of putting some sweet little treats in here for my oldest daughter for Easter.

 

Since the paper I used is double-sided, I skipped the liner (piece B) option. I love how everything is matchy-matchy!  You will love how easy this is to put together - it took me longer because I insist on sponging everything in sight with coordinating ink, but this is seriously a 10 minute project once you have the pieces cut out.

I hope you enjoyed my take on this template! Be sure to leave a comment then hop off to visit the rest of the Design Team. I can't wait to see their projects!

• Adela
• Jak
• Julia
• Lisa
• Lori (YOU ARE HERE!!)
• Patti
• Sue K
• Sue M

 *In case you're interested, A Tisket, A Tasket is a nursery rhyme I sang a lot as a child in the '70s. In the 19th century, it was a rhyming game played similarly to Duck, Duck, Goose. If you don't know the lyrics, here they are as I learned them:

A-tisket a-tasket

A green and yellow basket

I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it,

I dropped it,

I dropped it,

And on the way I dropped it.

A little boy he picked it up and put it in his pocket.

I even had a green and yellow plastic picnic basket set, which my mom still has and the little kids still play with it!  Thanks for stopping by today! Have a nice time on the hop!

Favor Boxes with Graphic 45 and Cricut

With three school-age kids, and involvement in several volunteer organizations, some of my favorite things to make are treat bags and favor boxes.  Luckily, there are a ton of them available on Cricut cartridges and as SVGs and PDFs for cutting. And you can make the same box in multiple styles just by changing the papers and embellishments.

For today's projects, I used Graphic 45 papers with a Cricut cartridge to make an elegant more "grown up" gift as well as a more fun Easter box suitable for a girl of any age. Change the papers & embellishments again, and you can make the same box into a masculine gift. I chose this particular box, because one of my favorite treats, especially for the grownups, are Ghiradelli chocolate squares.  The ones out now for Easter have a cute bunny on them, so I had to show him off!

The first box uses papers from The Olde Curiosity Shoppe.

For a simple but elegant touch, I tied some black mesh ribbon around the box lid and add a Kaiser Craft flower to the center.

The frame is cut from American Crafts glitter cardstock. By the way, did you know that you can cut a frame using ANY shape on a Cricut cartridge?!  This box had a window in the top, and I found a matching shape on the same cartridge.  Just measure the approximate size of the window so you know what size to make the inner cut of the frame.  I needed my inner frame to be about 1.75", and I wanted the outer frame to be about 2".  So I moved my cutting blade in to about 1.5" in both directions on the mat to give myself a little extra room and hit the "Center Point" button.  Setting the size to 1.75", I cut the shape once.  Then I reset the size to 2" and cut the shape again.  Frame done! (Be sure to remember to turn off the Center Point  button when you are done.)

The second box uses paper from Once Upon a Springtime, which you may not find as readily available.  You will find similar colors and beautiful patterns in the Secret Garden papers.

For this box, I used the leftover negative cuts from my box lid and frame to make a plaque for the front of the box. I used a Studio G stamp from my stash and some Vintage Photo distress ink to stamp the "chocolate" bunny.  I also sponged on distress ink in Peeled Paint on all the edges of the box and lid.

For a more girly feel, I used Pow Glitter Paper instead of the Glitter Cardstock, because the glitter is finer.  I also added flowers and pearls.  The pink flower in the center is a Prima, the others were "built" from flowers and brads in my stash.  I added Stickles to the flowers as well.

Items used:

• Graphic 45 papers in size of your choice
• Scor Tape (to assemble boxes)
• American Crafts Glitter Cardstock or Pow Glitter Paper
• Kaiser Craft flowers (special request)
• Prima flowers
• Stickles
• Kaiser Craft Adhesive Pearls in Lemon
• Glossy Accents  or Liquid Glass (to adhere flowers)
• Artiste Cricut cartridge (box is cut at 2" high size for this project)
• black mesh ribbon
• white hemp twine
• flat paper flowers
• brads 
• distress ink
• bunny stamp

Thanks for stopping by today! I'd love to hear what you think of my project.

Luck o' the Irish!

It's time for another challenge over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog - this month's challenge is to use green in your project.  For my project this month, I used vinyl and made a custom umbrella stand / flower bucket. (We live in a heavily Irish-Catholic area, so many of our neighbors would not limit the use of this to March!)

 

I cut all of my images using Make The Cut software.  I found a simple shamrock image to trace into the software, then did a search for an image using the terms "celtic knot border".  I found several borders, but many were too intricate for cutting from vinyl.  I chose this simple knot design, and after tracing it into the software, I resized it so the border along the top edge is wider than the border along the bottom edge.

A note for those of you new to working on 3-D items: when attaching a border on an object like this that widens, it will naturally want to curve rather than lay straight.  You can account for this in the software by using a Conical Warp, however I find it pretty simple on larger items like this to just adjust it manually.  For this design, I did have to make a couple of snips in the design to lay portions flat, but I find that easier than the measuring required to use the software feature.  For smaller items like mugs and cups, the Conical Warp is a MUST, and pretty easy to use.

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed my project, and I hope you find some time to come play with us at Scrappy Frog's this month!

Happiness is... March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our March Stamp of the Month blog hop! This month we are featuring the beautiful Floral Happiness, a set of 16 stamps great for two-step stamping and more on any project you can imagine.  If you have arrived here from Nikka Geers' blog, or if you are just starting out, you are in the right place! When we're done here, we'll all head over to Lisa Sargent's blog to see what great idea she has for us this month.

I have always loved two-step stamping, but I know it can be a challenge.  I really wanted to show how beautiful these images can be, and this is what I came up with:

I started with a 5 x 7 card base made from Whisper cardstock.  I then made a 4.25" x 6.25" panel also in Whisper.  I stamped the detail layer of the flowers on the panel with Whisper ink, and stamped the base layer of the flowers with 2nd generation Whisper. (Note: 2nd generation stamping is achieved by inking your stamp, stamping once on a scrap paper, then stamping on your desired paper.)

On White Daisy cardstock, I stamped one large, one medium, and two small flowers, and several leaves.  For the flowers, I used Hollyhock and Cranberry inks. For the leaves, I used Pear and Topiary inks. I cut the flowers and leaves out using my micro-tip scissors. To build my card front, I made a border on two sides with silver Shimmer Trim, weaving the strips together at the corner.  I then adhered the Whisper panel to a Black cardstock mat, and adhered that to the card base.  Next, I adhered my flowers to the card front, creating layers using 3-D Foam Tape.  Finally, I added a sentiment to an open spot on the card front using Black ink.

Here's a photo showing the layering:

You can easily double up the 3-D Foam Tape for additional depth to your design, as I did here on the largest flower.

Supplies used:

• Cardstock in Whisper, Black, and White Daisy
• Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Whisper, Black, Hollyhock, Cranberry, Pear, and Topiary
• Silver Shimmer Tape
• 3-D Foam Tape

That's it for today! I hope you'll take a minute to leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Then let's all head over to Lisa Sargent's blog; I'm sure she has something lovely to share with us today!

Lolli-Pots for Everyone!

Hello and welcome to the February 9 Creations by AR blog hop! We have some great new releases to share with yo today  I hope you enjoy our different takes on the files.  New files available today are the Lolli-Pop Pot and It's Bow Easy. (As a reminder, the files include versions in PDF, SVG and DXF - even if you don't have a cutting machine, the PDF files make them easy to cut by hand.) When you're done here, I hope you'll hop along to see what the rest of the designers have done with them!

I chose to make the Lolli-Pot for today:

The only suckers we had in the house were Charms Blow Pops, and it was a great fit!  Simply position the sucker upside down in the pot and slide the insert down over the stick.  I used Scor Tape & Liquid Glass to assemble the pot and base.  I also used a strip of Scor Tape to adhere the pot into the base so it would stay put.

I'm really tired of Winter, so I chose the Tulip Topper for my version of the pot.  I used a circle punch to make some simple leaves as well.  I adhered all of those pieces to the stick with mini Glue Dots.  The papers for my version are Sweet Leaf cardstock and the new Chantilly paper pack from Close To My Heart. I think these would make sweet little favors for Easter or a Spring party - I think I will send some to school for class parties this Spring...

That's it for my take on this cute project.  I'd love to hear your comments, then be sure to check out the other designers' projects:

• Lisa Somerville
• Jak Heath
• Lyn Bernatovich
• Julia Aston
• Sue Kment
• Amy Park

You're Sweet! Red andPink Challenge

It's time for a new monthly challenge over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog, and this month's challenge is to make something with pink & red.  Of course, you can use other colors as well, and I added a healthy dose of green to my project.

Since the groundhog told us we'll be greeting Spring early this year, I'm already looking forward to my favorite part - when the strawberry patch starts coming back to life!

These cute little berries can each hold a candy or two (if you care to allow someone to rip into them), or you can make one larger berry to hold a small gift.  I am more likely to put this in my kitchen and threaten my kids with bodily harm if they mess with it!

It's all pretty easy to make; both items are cut with the Artiste Cricut cartridge.  My berry basket is actually part of an Easter basket on page 73 of the handbook; I just left the handle off.  I cut it using "Fit to Page", which the Cricut tells me is 2.25".  If you want a larger basket, you can find 12"x24" cardstock, which I'm guessing would allow a basket up to 4.5".  It's an easy fold & glue assembly.

The berries were only slightly trickier, but that's because I knowingly cut them far smaller than the recommended size in the book. (I am NOT good at following instructions, LOL.)  The berries and leaves are on page 72 in the handbook, and I cut them at 3" (recommended size is 6").  The smaller size made them a little more difficult to assemble, but I have seen people tie them shut which would probably be an easier option, especially for the smaller size.  I used some corduroy brads I had on hand and put it through the hole in the leaves first, then each flap of the berry.  I left the side seam open until the end so I could wiggle my fingers in there and open the brad.  I then used Liquid Glass to seal that seam.

The pink berries are made with paper from the Chantilly paper pack from Close To My Heart.  The red ones are made with Ruby cardstock (also CTMH), which I embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.  After embossing, I sanded off the raised dots (why I LOVE the white core CS) and sponged over them with Sweet Leaf ink.  I love the combination of both playful and realistic patterns.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'd love to hear your comments on today's project.