by Shari | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
For those who may not know such things, World Card Making Day was held October 1st. The Cricut Circle challenge of the week was dedicated to honor this festive and creative occasion.
October 4
The Challenge: For this next challenge, we want to see you show off your card-making skills in honor of World Card-Making Day (October 1st). The requirements are simple . . . create a card with any theme you would like using your Cricut machines!
As it happens, I was planning to make my very first cake box and a matching card to send to someone special for all he does for us. Fall being his favorite time of year, as well as mine, I wanted to use that as a theme. I chose rich colors with brown tones to make it more masculine.
The box is cut from Bazzill Basics Paper in Preppy Divine Mocha from a 12”x24” sheet, as I wanted a large box. It was then sprayed with Ranger’s Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold; once sprayed, the paper no longer looked dark brown, but rather an olive color in certain light. Still, it was beautiful.
The card was also cut from the same papers; additional papers used in this project were from various Fancy Pants collections. The lettering was cut from the Sentimentals cartridge on gold paper by Recollections.
Cricut Cartridges used in this design were: Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, Close to My Heart Art Philosophy, Sentimentals and Celebrate with Flourish Lite
All in all, I was quite pleased with my first attempt at a cake box. The box and the card, while not an exact decorative match, blend together beautifully. I know he will enjoy receiving them.
by Jen_F | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
For those who may not know such things, World Card Making Day was held Saturday, October 1st. The Cricut Circle challenge of the week was dedicated to honor this festive and creative occasion.
The Challenge: For this next challenge, we want to see you show off your card-making skills in honor of World Card-Making Day (October 1st). The requirements are simple . . . create a card with any theme you would like using your Cricut machines!
As it happens, I was planning to make my very first cake box and a matching card to send to someone special for all he does for us. Fall being his favorite time of year, as well as mine, I wanted to use that as a theme. I chose rich colors with brown tones to make it more masculine.
The box is cut from Bazzill Basics Paper in Preppy Divine Mocha from a 12”x24” sheet, as I wanted a large box. It was then sprayed with Ranger’s Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold; once sprayed, the paper no longer looked dark brown, but rather an olive color in certain light. Still, it was beautiful.
The card was also cut from the same papers; additional papers used in this project were from various Fancy Pants collections. The lettering was cut from the Sentimentals cartridge on gold paper by Recollections.
Cricut Cartridges used in this design were: Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, Close to My Heart Art Philosophy, Sentimentals and Celebrate with Flourish Lite.
All in all, I was quite pleased with my first attempt at a cake box. The box and the card, while not an exact decorative match, blend together beautifully. I know he will enjoy receiving them.
Love,
Shari
by Jen_F | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
For September, the Cricut Circle Magazine Challenge was as follows:
Use any Echo Park Collection and at least 4 Cricut Cuts from your favorite cartridge in your design.
Seemed simple enough, but I didn’t have any Echo Park products on hand, and there are no specialty scrapbook shops that carried these products in the Houston area. So, I checked out their products on the internet, but since I had no project in mind, I wasn’t sure what paper to order. I finally decided on a couple of the packs and was going to wait until the papers arrived to decide what to create.
As it turns out, I was working on something else for the fall, when a happy accident actually determined my project for the month. I was creating files for a scarecrow on my Gypsy, and could not get the shirt layer to size correctly. In a moment of brilliance, I realized I wasn’t supposed to get it correct, as it was destined for me to actually “stuff” my scarecrow. From there, it was easy to create the scene for this challenge.
When the papers arrived, I selected The Apothecary Emporium paper pack. I used the following Cricut cartridges: Happy Hauntings, October 31st and Simply Scarecrow to create the scene.
I used red eyes on the scarecrow, the crow and the pirates to give it that eerie pirate feel. Every pirate has to have some bling, so I added a vintage button (from my mother’s vast collection she generously shared with me) to the pirate’s head gear. The shirt buttons were also from my mother’s stash of buttons. The scarecrow’s eyes and the eyes of the jack-o-lantern were stitched with black thread.
The shirt and bandana on the scarecrow’s head were stuffed with fall colored raffia. I carefully selected pieces and gently poked them in the holes I created. Once filled, I then added some glue to hold the stuffing in place.
To create the overall look of the scene, I covered a block of foam in paper, then added Spanish moss to give it the look and feel of dead grass. I found the perfect “tree” in my front yard after a rain storm knocked it from the tree. I painted the twig in flat black, then sprayed it with CC International’s Iridescent Spray and Sparkle. (Please note that this item should never be used indoors; only use in a well ventilated area.) Some of the items were misted with shimmer sprays to give them the added eerie look.
I love the way project came together, and especially the scarecrow. It was a great reminder to me of what I always used to tell my scrapbook clients when I was teaching classes: “There are no mistakes in crafting; only opportunities to be creative.”
Love,
Shari
by Shari | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
My blog was recently honored by Renee (a.k.a., RockinRenee) at “I came, I saw, I created,” with the Butterfly Award. To say that I was stunned to receive such an award would be a gross understatement. I never imagined that anyone other than family and maybe a few friends would ever even look at my blog. Not once did it ever cross my mind that other people would find my work interesting or noteworthy.
September 23
Thank you, Renee, for honoring me with such an award of distinction!
In order to accept the award, I have to answer the following questions and then pass on the award to 10 others with interesting crafting sites:
In order to accept the award, I have to answer the following questions and then pass on the award to 10 others with interesting crafting sites:
- Name my favorite color – Purple! Why? Are there other colors?
- Name my favorite song – Just one? Why not ask me my favorite group? That I can answer (“Queen” of course!). My boys always tease me because I’ll hear a song and say, “Oh, that’s my favorite!” They then feel compelled to remind me I say that to all the songs. Guess it’s my version of a Lay’s potato chip: I can’t pick just one.
- Name my favorite dessert – Ice Cream
- What ‘wizzes’ me off at the moment? People who cannot follow directions.
- My favorite pet – All of my dogs: Jewel, Spirit, Dusty and Lefty.
- Black or white? Depends on the circumstance, as I’m fond of both.
- Biggest fear – Being caught in a fire.
- Best feature – Why, my winning personality, of course! Actually, I’ve always thought my smile was my best physical feature.
- Everyday attitude – It is what it is, so deal with it.
- What is perfection? A sleeping baby.
- Guilty pleasure – I’d say my Cricut, but I don’t feel any guilt over the pleasure I get from it.
- When I am upset I… RANT!
I would like to pass on the Butterfly Award to the following:
- Carolyn at My Pretty Poodle projects with loads of details.
- Tami at Tami?s Treasures lots of cards and scrapbook layouts.
- Gabriele at Gaby Creates beautiful designs, fantastic ideas, gorgeous projects and some tutorials.
- Jen at Confessions of a Scrapaholic lots of fun card and scrapbook layouts with kids? themes.
- Jan at The Crafty Mermaid numerous traveling and camping projects/ideas.
- Mel at Doxie Mel Designs love the detail of her designs.
- Kemma at Kemma?s Cards a new blog with some great stuff.
- Ruthie at September Ninth this is one crafty lady with some super fun projects and tutorials.
- Melitta at Canadian Paper Shaper some nice tutorials and tips for using the Cricut, plus detailed cutting instructions for many of her designs (I love the helmets).
- Melanie and Dora at Creativity Moment by Moment another new blog, but these are two talented ladies!
Congratulations ladies and continue creating!
– Shari
by Shari | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
September’s Cricut Circle Monthly Challenge was to create a project that included some type of window element. Additionally, it had to include at least 2 Cricut Image Cuts.
September 23
Being the fall, I was trying to create something that would fit the season. For some reason, my mind wandered to the old Charlie Brown special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” I always loved Linus’s determination that the Great Pumpkin was coming, despite everyone else’s negativity. The image of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive stuck in my head, and I began to see a scene of puppies looking out the window at something.
Whenever I create something involved, I always start by printing everything in white to be sure it will all work as I saw it in my head. When I showed it to one of my sons, he said,
“Aw, look, that one is telling his mom that one of the other puppies stole the witch’s hat and broom and is out flying around, obviously having a good time.” I hadn’t even thought of that!
The dogs are chalked to look like our little “Lefty”, who is likely the dog on the broom. Lefty is the ultimate carefree, all about the fun, dog. It would definitely be something he’d do.
So, in honor of my son, Ryan, I call this “Joyride”. I hope you enjoy it, too!
by Shari | Cricut Circle, Our Art, Shari_T
Being a bit of a novice, I haven’t actually participated in many of the Cricut Circle challenges until recently. This time, it is the Weekly Challenge that inspired me.
September 13
Weekly Challenge #40: Glittery Card Sketch Challenge!
The Challenge: This week we want to see your interpretation of the following card sketch. Please include some kind of glitter or bling on your card.
I love the fall, which is actually quite comical considering I live in Texas and we don’t actually have any seasons other than summer. What I love about the fall is the colors, the way nature’s palette washes everything to bright beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, golds and even browns. It makes me think I feel cooler weather, even if today was a record-breaking 102! So, it was no stretch to immediately see fall leaves in this sketch.
Now, here’s my interpretation of this sketch:
Now, I think I’ll turn down the air conditioner and pretend it’s almost fall in Texas.
