365 Mosaic Challenge

Another challenge from 365 Cards. The challenge was to create a mosaic. I wasn't going for anything so literal, but when I saw this pic of the floor in the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, I had to try it.
The card was fun to make, but I think if I do this again, I will chop the paper finer and sprinkle it like glitter. It took about 6 hours to make.

365 Cards Design

I'm on vacation this week, so I wanted to do something fun i.e. a card I didn't have to make. I looked for a good card challenge, and I found the blog 365 Cards.

The challenge was to use a tag. I thought,"Perfect!" I have had these stickers that look like shirt tags FOREVER. So I whipped out a book, Kitschy Crafts, that I bought to cut up for cards. Lots of cool, retro pics. And the book was only $6.00.

My husband and I are going to a big flea market in Rogers, OH in the morning, so this is to say thank you to him for using a vacation day to go with me. Such a sweetie! So the people in this card are fleatiquing... Because that's what I want it to be, & it's my card! (Yes, I'm a bit grumpy at 1:30 in the morning).

I just saw this this blog Creating from the Heart. She is having an awesome giveaway (including a Slice!) for her blogaversary! Check it out before the clock runs out on Weds. April 5.

Party Crown

Part crown for girl or boy. I did not add slits so that the crown could be fit to size.
The .SCUT is about 24" long.
Download the Crown.SCUT.

Download Crown.SVG.

Champagne Bottle

*Grin* Uh, I guess I should post more often. Rest assured, though, my Cricut has not been idle. I have also bought a Cuttle Bug in the last month and have been messing with that, too. Today I made a champagne bottle for a lady on the CricutCutter Yahoo! group. I used white shimmer paper for the champagne drops and tinfoil (dull side out) for the foil above the seal. I used brown paper similar to a paper bag for the cork. I decorated the label & seal with black, burgundy, silver and gold pens.

The SCUT file is 1" wide by 4" tall. I have it set up so it will cut the individual pieces. The complete bottle is off the mat to show what it looks like. I cut the file with a scrap sheet, then press "Load Paper" Instead of "Unload" when it is finished. I lift the scrap paper, leaving only the edge under the roller stack down. Then I can slip small squares of the final paper under the template. Once I have each color where it should go, I pull off the scrap sheet and click "Cut" in SCAL.
Download the Champagne Bottle.SCUT.

Or, if you prefer, you can alter the SVG & save each piece as its own file.
Download the Champagn Bottle.SVG.

Cricut Mat Tip & New Necklace

I wanted to share a tip for the Cricut mat that I haven't seen anywhere else. I am sure others have done this, too, but I trimmed the top and bottom of my mat so I can insert it in all four directions. It makes some projects sooo much easier, & it prolongs the life of the mat.

Provo Craft recommends 30 to 50 cuts for each mat. I have one and have used it hundreds of times. And I going to keep using it until I wear a hole in it! I spray it with a quilt basting spray every hundred cuts or so, to keep it sticky. I also clean it with baby wipes when it gets fuzzy. But I think most everyone knows those tips.

I trimmed the bottom (shown below) just under the numbers, &, yes, I know my trimming is kinda squiggly *smile*. The top I trimmed to the middle of the arrow. Whatever fits best on your machine though.

I also finished a new necklace with white and silver marbled beads...

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend was a busy one. I finished the necklaces and gift bags for my mom and mother-in-law. (See previous post for the gift bag SVG).

The gift bag below is modeled after these pictures on Flickr by Imalrl.

I also made 35 boxes and lemon bars for a bake sale for church. These are cupcake boxes from the Box Font by Holly at Scentials.com. Well worth the $10 for the font.
I hope everyone else had a good Mother's Day Weekend, too!

ScrappyDew Tutorial

Thanks to Rob over at ScrappyDew.com for another great Inkscape/ SCAL tutorial!

I designed a gift bag to cut in SCAL, and it kept cutting the lines twice. I hadn't seen this happen before in anything else I made, so I needed help solving the problem. I sent a tutorial request to ScrappyDew. I also posted a message on the SCAL message board, because I really didn't think they'd actually make a tutorial! Well, both places are great, and I had two answers within the hour. And Rob was also kind enough to post a tutorial to show us exactly how do clean up those lines.

The tutorial can be viewed on YouTube:

ScrappyDew Tutorial

Download the GiftBag.SVG.