Enchanted Lantern - Creations by AR New Release Blog Hop

 

Hello and welcome to another New Release blog hop for Creations by AR!  This month's new release is the beautiful Enchanted Lantern, with 3 window options. All files are available in SVG and DXF format, as well as PDF for those of you cutting by hand! After seeing all of the beautiful things you can do with this file, I know you're going to want one of your own! And here's how you can WIN your very own:

• 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 Friday, April 19 (12:00 noon EST)
One random winner will be announced April 20:
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

Now, who's ready to see some beautiful Enchanted Lanterns?! Here's my version:

I chose to make an elegant "garden party lantern" in soft colors. I even covered the inside of the windows with vellum (who remembers vellum?!) for a softer, romantic light.

I created my lantern using the Avonlea Paper Pack and Avonlea Canvas Shapes from Close To My Heart, and paper flowers and brads (for flower centers) from my stash. I assembled the lantern using Scor Tape and adhered the flowers using Liquid Glass.

 Here you can see my battery operated tealight. The lantern top conveniently sits on the lantern without adhesive, making it easy to remove and replace the tealight.

Here you can see what the lantern looks like "plain", on the back side. If I were making these for an actual Garden Party, however, I would definitely decorate at least two sides of the lantern. Wouldn't several of these look lovely as table centerpieces?

Now, I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what the rest of the DT has created with this file! Before we go, be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win.  (And I would love if you come back here on Thursday when I plan to have another version of this made.)  Here's the list of DT members you should visit this month:

Adela - http://cbyar.blogspot.com/2013/04/creations-by-ar-april-blog-hop.html

Amy - http://tethered2home.com/?p=10167 

Jak - http://www.jakheath.com/2013/04/enchanted-lantern-blog-hop-creations-by.html 

Julia - http://createwithjulia.blogspot.com/2013/04/creations-by-ar-enchanted-lantern-april.html
Lisa - http://www.lisasomerville.com/2013/04/enchanted-lantern-creations-by-ar-april.html
Lori - <<<<<<<<< YOU ARE HERE >>>>>>>>>>
Lyn - http://www.lynspaperpetunia.com/2013/04/creations-by-ar-new-release-hop.html
Sue K - http://suesstampingstuff.blogspot.com/2013/04/creations-by-ar-new-release-lantern.html
Sue M - http://www.suessentiments.org/2013/04/creations-by-ar-april-16th-release-blog.html
 

Easy Gift Bags With Scor Pal

It's my turn again today at the Cutters Creek blog!  I decided on this fun & easy project that's great for any time of year.

With Christmas rapidly approaching and teacher gifts finally completed, I realized I needed some gift bags to pop them in.  Scor Pal to the rescue!  You can use your Scor Pal to make nearly any size bag you want, and I can show you how.

Based on the size of my gift, I decided to make a bag 6" wide by 2.5" deep. (Sorry, I can't show the actual gifts yet, since they are being given Thursday & Friday and I don't want to spoil the surprise, just in case!)  So, it's easy to figure out how much paper you need based on the size of the bag, plus a 1/2" - 1" flap for adhering.  Just add up all of the sides: 6 + 2.5 + 6 + 2.5 = 17.  Since this is larger than 12 inches, I know I will need 2 sheets of cardstock.  I will need a flap on each piece to attach them, and I choose a 1/2" flap, so I will need 2 sheets cut to 9" x 12". The 12" is height plus bottom, so lay your cardstock on the Scor Pal vertically, like this:

Next, score the cardstock for the 2 side measurements and flap.

When you have scored both lines, your cardstock should look like this:

Next, you will rotate your cardstock one turn (90 degrees). It doesn't matter which way you turn it, as long as you do both sheets of cardstock the same way.  When you are done, the cardstock will look like this:

This corner piece I have scribbled through gets removed completely.

Next, you will cut the flaps for the bottom of the bag:

The arrows I drew in show where pieces are cut to make the flaps.  Note that the piece we cut completely out in the previous step is next to a bottom flap.  Next, we need to attach the two pieces of cardstock and assemble the bottom of the bag.

Lay your cardstock so the fold of the skinny side flap is a "mountain" fold.  Put your adhesive on the top side of this skinny flap on both pieces of cardstock.  Now adhere the flap on the first piece of cardstock to the "inside" of the second piece of cardstock.  Then adhere the flap on the second piece of cardstock to the inside of the first piece of cardstock.

Next you will put adhesive on the "outside" of the smaller side flaps, and fold over one of the larger side flaps on top of them.  Set it flat on the table and push down the smaller flaps from the inside of the bag to make sure they are adhered.

Finally, you will put adhesive on the "inside" of the final flap and adhere it to the rest of the bottom.  Your bag is now finished.  If you are going to want to put a topper on your bag, you can use your fingers to crease the small sides in half partway down the sides of the bag.

Now, on to the fun part - making the bag pretty!  Here is how mine turned out:

I opted for a simple topper since my paper had a pretty design.  The 6"x6" paper pads in the store are perfect for this! I just folded mine in half.  I wanted to make my bag reusable, so rather than permanently attach the topper, I wanted to tie it on.  I held my folded topper over the folded bag and punched 2 holes through all of the layers at once.  I used eyelets from my stash to reinforce the holes in the topper only.

Since my paper had a pretty design, I left it alone and just traced over some of the design elements with my Copic Spica pens.

I also traced over some of the stamped elements on this tag with the Copic Spics pens.  I reinforced the hole in the tag with another eyelet.  I threaded twine through the holes in the bag & topper, then through the tag and tied it in a shoestring bow.  Easy to open and easy to reuse!

The following products to make this are available in the Cutters Creek store:

• Scor Pal
• 6"x6" paper pads - I used the Echo Park Paper Season's Greetings pad
• Scor Tape
• Copic Spica Pens - I used Clear, Gold, Lipstick, and 
• Doodlebug Twine
• Distress ink pads on Peeled Paint and Fired Brick

Other materials used:

• cardstock in coordinating color(s)
• Cricut Artiste cartridge (for tag)
• stamps of your choice (for tag)
• eyelets and punch (I used a Crop-a-dile)

Dad's Comfy Chair - Creations by AR New Release Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to my first post as a new Design Team member for Creations by AR! I am so excited to work with these fun cutting templates, and a talented group of designers. Today's release is two new files - Comfy Sofa Gift Box and Papa's Trunk. For those of you unfamiliar with her designs, all files come with a PDF for hand cutting, as well as SVG and DXF files for use with cutting machines. I personally use the SVG files with Make The Cut software.

These are both neat designs, but since I just joined the team a couple of days ago, I chose to make Dad's Comfy Chair from the Comfy Sofa Gift Box file. (I have much grander ideas for the trunk design, so I thought I would save that for when I have more time!)

 Now that looks like a comfy chair!  And it is super easy to put together - add a second seat/back section for a loveseat, and a third for a sofa.  Now, not only is it a cute chair, but it is also a gift box!  Here are some more pictures:

Doesn't it look like a footrest with the box pulled partially out?!

And here's the gift box open.

 I honestly don't know what I am going to put in there!  Originally, I was thinking of a new watch, but it seems that SOMEONE decided to buy one for himself so I guess he is out of luck!  Perhaps the kids will make him a nice mini coupon book of fun stuff to do with them.  (And that's a great present for ALL of us!)

My "buttons" are actually cute little brads!

Now, how would you like to win your choice of either new template?!  Every DT member on this hop will be giving away one of these new files to a random winner.  To win on this blog, simply leave a comment before noon Central on Friday, May 25.  Then stop back by on Saturday to see if you've won!  Of course, if you decide to become a follower or email subscriber while you're here, I won't complain!

If you'd like to know what I used for my chair, here are the details:

• This & That Charming Collection (Primer - 2 sheets, Dots & Plaid, and Charming Layered Chipboard), Echo Park Paper
• Mini-Medley Accents Collection, Black (button brads), Close To My Heart
• Scor-Tape, Scor-Pal

Now, be sure to hop along to all of the other DT Member blogs!  I know they all have fabulous projects to share, as well as more chances to win!  Here's a list:

• Adela Rossol:   http://cbyar.blogspot.com/
• Amy Park:  http://tethered2home.com/ 
• Lisa Somerville:   http://www.lisasomerville.com/
• Lori Brown: http://savingmine.blogspot.com
• Lyn Bernatovich:  http://lynspaperpetunia.blogspot.com/
• Magdalena Cortez:   http://axesdesigns.blogspot.com/
• Patti J. Gilliam: http://www.cherisheachpreciousday.blogspot.com/
• Sue Kment:   http://suesstampingstuff.blogspot.com/

 Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope to see you again soon!

Uncommon Layout with Authentique, Sketch Support, and Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge

My 8-year-old daughter Holly is a very unique girl.  Being the middle child, she gets in a lot less trouble than her older sister and younger brother.  But she is by no means a wall flower.  She dresses in crazy outfits, dances and jumps around the room, sings at the top of her lungs (regardless of her sister's opinion of her singing), is a champion litter box scooper, and a frequent hugger.  I came across these pictures that I think her 6-year-old brother took, because I sure don't remember doing it, and I just had to document her unique style & personality.

Be sure to click on the picture to see it in better detail!

I started with a sketch from Sketch Support and papers from the Uncommon line by Authentique.  The script font in the title is from Gypsy Font.  The scrolls, rolled roses, and rest of the title are all from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close To My Heart.  The pink letters in the title were edged using a black marker to better define the edges.  The pom-pom ribbon is also from Close To My Heart, as are all of the stamping inks (and sponge daubers) that I used to sponge the edges of all of my papers, and the tools I used to create the roses.  Cardstocks are all from Bazzill, the leaves are from my stash, and the sparkly gems are all I-rock gems from Imaginisce.   

Quick tip: I used the cuts on the Art Philosophy font as marks to tell me where to adhere the I-rock gems.  In this small 1" size, the cuts themselves are pretty tiny, but I liked the design element.  Also, I used Scor Tape to adhere the lumpy bumpy ribbon, and dimensional Glue Dots to adhere the roses so I could angle them better.

If you'd like to see details on how to make the rolled roses, here's a video you can check out.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I would love to know what you think of my layout and/or video.  I would of course also love to have you as my follower or subscriber if you're so inclined.  Hope to see you back here again soon!

Borders, Borders Everywhere

Let me preface by saying that it is HIGH time I get myself in a Copic class.  I had one heck of a time coloring the face on this today, but I have vowed to practice more with them in the hopes that I will eventually learn to love them!

I've had very little crafty time lately, so I decided to enter a couple of challenges today so I would at least get to play a little before I dig in & get back to the drudgery of housework!  I based my card on a sketch for Which One Wednesday at the TGF Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, and opted to go all-in with some border strips for the Beautiful Borders Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.   Go check them out and you can play along too!

I love how she just happens to fit in the circle design so perfectly; like she's lounging around there.

I used the following supplies to make my card:

• Kraft card base
• Springtime papers from Echo Park
• Black and white cardstock
• Cheeky Rockabilly stamp from The Greeting Farm
• Copic markers
• Ribbon from the Animal Crackers Jack collection by Making Memories
• Border punches from (top to bottom) Martha Stewart Crafts, EK Success, Martha Stewart Crafts, & Stampin' Up!
• ATG adhesive, Scor-tape (for the bottom 2 borders), and foam pop dots

Shameless plug: the Echo Park papers, The Greeting Farm stamp, Copic markers, and all adhesives are available over at Cutters Creek!

Thanks for stopping by; I always love to read your comments!  If you feel so inclined, I would also love for you to become a follower (I also have email and reader options).

Here come the Easter Beasties!

I always try to be the "treat bag mom" for at least one of my kid's parties every year.  This week is the "Spring" party, and I found the funnest little SVG file over at Lettering Delights!  The file is called Easter Beasties Bag, and I needed a whole herd of beasties!

Don't they look excited to be here?!  Those pretty colors are all American Crafts cardstock in Tropicals.  The white CS is CTMH, the pink is Bazzil swiss dot, and the black is a combo of CTMH and Bazzil swiss dot (because somehow I managed to let myself run almost completely out of black CS - time to order more!).

After I imported the SVG into my Make The Cut software, I added three small circle cuts to the back side of the bag.  I had some parents send pencils for the bags and it was the only way they were gonna fit!

The best part about this SVG is how quickly they go together.  The pieces are all big enough to not get lost and make for easy stacking.  Even folding the bag goes quickly.  To make sure everything held together properly, I used my Scotch ATG for the layered bits, then assembled everything using Scor-Tape.  (I would swear that "Sookwang" is Korean for "best damned tape EVER", lol.)  In fact, these are so easy that the kiddoes & I are going to make some  more this week.  And all I'm going to do is cut, and maybe help fold.  I'm making them do their own assembly!