Parisian Explosion Box

Hey Party People!  I attended my mother's birthday luncheon this weekend and the party had a Parisian theme as she is planning a trip to Paris for her 60th.  She invited all the guest to go with her and I can't wait to go.  To keep with the theme, I decided to make her an Explosion Box with a Paris slant.  Here is what I came up with.

Here's the details.

Carts and Materials

• Summer in Paris - Eiffel Tower, fleur de lis, crown, Paris
• MS Elegant Cake Art - Happy Birthday
• Paper - Timelesss Collection by Teresa Collins
• Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tattered Rose

I used a 12" x 12" sheet of paper from the Teresa Collins Timeless Collection for the base.  It has a beautiful pink flocked damask design on the piece that I used for the outside of the box.  I cut out 4" x 4" squares at each corner to make the base of the box. 

I cut the top at 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" so that it would fit nicely over the box.

 On the inside, I added various pieces of bling from my stash (I love bling so I have a lot of it!).  I then added a crown (cut at 3" wide) and a fleur de lis (cut at 2.73" wide) that I covered with MS Coarse Glitter.

I made a pocket from a scrap piece of paper to put money in.  It could also hold a gift card.  I then cut a small card to put opposite of the pocket.  I distressed both pieces with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tattered Rose.  I cut out Happy Birthday (2.55" wide) and Paris (3.54" wide) and added them to the piece as well.

Now to the centerpiece - the 3-dimensional Eiffel Tower!  This cut came as a 3-D cut.  They made it with one detailed cut and one solid cut.  I chose to cut out 2 detailed cuts which worked but was murder to put together.  But I finally got it together and placed it in the middle of the box.  I added some flowers and some bling and my project was complete.

I made a video I wanted to share about how I put this all together.  I included a little snippette of video from the party of my mother opening the box.  She really loved it!

Let me know what you all think of my first Explosion Box!  Leave me some blog love and I'll talk to you later!

Smooches,

I recieved an irresitable Blog Award!

One of my fellow circlets saw a project I posted on the MBs, visited my blog and really liked what she saw.  She liked it so much that she decided to give me a Blog Awad!  Big thanks to Scrappin Figgy for..

That was so irresitably sweet of her!  Be sure to check out Scrappin' Figgy's blog at Scrapbooks and Paper Crafts.  As with most blog awards, I have to reveal 7 random things about myself.  So here we go!

1.  I just recently started reading for pleasure again.
2.  I love the beach
3.  I am an only child
4.  I am a foodie
5.  If I believed in reincarnation, I would swear I was Italian in a former life
6.  I absolutely hate the clean and my husband does most of it
7.  When I was younger, I thought I would own a carwash

The last thing I have to do is pass this award on to some other deserving crafters.  Here's the Roll Call!

1.  217 Creations - Elizabeth is amazing!
2.  Styles by Stefani - One of my crafty homies with creativity
3.  Scrappin' With My Bug - I adore her style
4.  Au Clair de la Lune - this chic is oozing talent!
5.  Erin Lee Creative - her projects are always so cute
6.  Greenbean's Crafterole - she make something fabulous out of nothing
7.  TX Scrapper Mom - my crafting homie from around the way with talent in every part of her
8.  With Glittering Eyes - words can not convey how talented Nadia is!

Thanks again Scrappin' Figgy for bestowing me with this amazing award!

Smooches,

Ballet Bag for Layla

Our God Daughter, Layla, had her first Ballet and Tap dance recital this past weekend.  So of course I had to make something for her to commemorate the occassion.  I decided to make her a tote bag and I knew just which cart to use.  Here are the details!

Cart and Materials

• Shall We Dance (Cricut Circle Exclusive) - ballerinas
• MS Seasonal Cake Art - font for name
• Tote Bag - Simplicity brand from Joann's

Let me tell you, this bag took some trials to get it right!  For all the fabric, I used Heat & Bond Fabric Adhesive that you can buy by the yard at most fabric stores. 

I started with the ballerina's and I cut them with the Silhouette feature.  My first mistake was fabric choice.  I orignally went with a black duck cloth which turned out to be way too thick.  I set my gypsy to cut the image several times and it still wouldn't seperate cleanly from the fabric.  So I switched to a basic black calico fabric which is much thinner. 

It took me cutting the images 3 times before I got a clean enough cut.  I still had to snip them in a few areas in order to free them.  But they were done.  The Heat & Bond has a paper backing on it for cutting so I removed that and they were ready to iron on to the bag.

   

Cutting the letters was much more simple and I don't know why. I used a calico fabric for this as well.  Oh well!.  They came out crisp and clean.

Because you can't have a ballerina without a tutu, I decided to add some tulle to embellish this part of their silhouettes.  I took a stip of tulle, doubled it over and ran a running stitch through it so I could gatther it.  I then used Fabri-Tac to glue the tulle to the silhouettes just where I wanted.  I then glued a ribbon rose at the waist from my stash to add some femininity and to cover up the thread.

Here's our tiny dancer with her bag and her beautiful peonies.  She is a star in the making!  I hope you like the bag and try cutting fabric with your Cricut.  If you have any questions or want to leave me some blog love, leave a comment below!

Smooches,

Amanda's Sympathy Card

Hi guys.  How have you been?  Well, I hope.  This week, I had to create one of those cards that are not our favorites but necessary - a Sympathy Card.   One of my friend's mother passed all of a sudden so I wanted to make her a card to let her know we are thinking of them.  So here is what I made.

Carts and Materials

• Freshly Picked - gazebo
• Florals Embellished - bird (shilouette feature with some of the cuts hidden)
• Tim Holtz Inks - various colors for the subtle shading

I got my inspiration from from a card on the message Boards and a project on the Cricut Circle Blog by Shantiae Fowler.  I wanted to make the card all white but then decided to add some color but in a subtle way.  So I pulled out my TH inks and ink dauber and got to work.



I added some pearls all around the card to add to the softness.



I hope you love it but I really hope it shows our friends that we love thme and are supporting them through this tough time.  Thanks everyone!

Smooches,

 

Dad's Still Smokin' - My Favorite Card Yet!

I am so proud of this card!  It turned out just exactly the way I envisioned it!!!  I'm going to get right to it.

I turned this...

..into this!!!

Here's the prescription!

Carts

• Everyday Paper Dolls - grill (4 cuts - 2 in gray, 1 red and 1 black)
• Birthday Bash - font for senitment, circle, plumes

But wait!  There's more!!!

It opens up to reveal the sentiment!!!  Cute huh?!

The grill cut was an open grill so I altered it to make it close.  I wanted it to open and close so I snipped a part of the cut and added a brad to make a hinge.

I used a red metallic paper to make it look like the classic red Weber grill that everyone had back in the day.  I added a circle and a few "smoke plumes" to be able to add my sentiment and make the grill smokin'!

I had to make a pocket to hide the sentiment.  Here is how I did it.

 1.  Cut 2 grills out of gray cardstock.  Place them on top of each other and snip the corner that holds that top onto the bottom of the grill.

2.  Glue on your red and black pieces to the top layer and line up the top layer with the bottom layer.  Using a binder clip to hold all layers together, punch a small hole in the in the grill cover where the brad will go.  Make sure you overlap the layers a little so the brad will hold them all together.

3.  Place a bead of glue around the edge of the grill, leaving a little space before you get to the bottom of the cover.  Place another bead of glue on the legs and around the edge of the bottom of the grill.  This creates the pocket for the circle.

4.  Place a small bead of glue at the up edge of the circle and slide it into the top pocket of the grill.  You may have to play with this a little in order to make sure the circle is in the right spot to be covered up when you close the grill.  Glue the smoke plumes on and make sure everything fits when you close the grill.  Write your sentiment on there and you are finished!

Back of card

I will be dropping this card in the mail today for my dad who is an avid griller and bbq sauce maker.  I know he is going to love it!  Leave me some blog love and tell me what you think!!!

Smooches,

Happy Father's Day - Circle Weekly Challenge Entry

It's summer and I have lots of time to do what I love - crafting!  So much time that I am participating in this week's Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge.  It was posted yesterday and I am already done!  Eeeks!

This week's challenge was the make a Father's Day card using the following sketch:

Masculine cards are hard for me, as they are for many of you.  I just don't have that many ideas for them.  I like flowers and ribbons and scallops and the sort.  That is easy for me.  Designing a card for a man is, well, a challenge.  Here's what I came up with.

Here's the prescription!

Carts and Materials

• Everyday Paper Dolls - golf ball, putting green, flad (inside card)
• Seeing Spots - embossed the golf ball to make the divits
• Stamp - Studio G "Ditto" collection @ Michaels

I used the embossing folder and turned the image over so the impression was going in instead of raised.  It makes it look like the real thing.  I had to cut the putting green twice, once in yellow, to get the flag.  I also had to color in the pole with a black marker to seperate it from the grass.

I stamped the sentiment with black ink.  But because the paper was so textured, it didn't stamp completely.  So I had to fill in the word "Father" with a black marker.  It turned out great.

I carried my theme to the inside of the card.

I really like the way it came out and I hope you do to.  Leave me some love and we'll catch up later.  Got some more goodies to show ya!

Smooches,

Maya Road Grab Bag - What a deal!!!!

Hey everybody!  I wanted to share a sweet deal with everyone.  I got a tip from one of my crafty friends, Stefani, about a grab bag from Maya Road.  It is actually a mystery box of overstock or past seasons' goodies of all kinds - ribbons, acrylics, mini albums, chipboard and more.  You order it from Olivia Place.  This is a blog with daily specials by the owners of Maya Road.  The specials could be baby products, all purpose goods or Maya Road products.  The grab box is valued at $110 and only cost $34.50! (exclusive of tax and shipping).  Let's take a look at what I got.

Here's my box.

Here's what I got!

Clear binder mini album, journaling tags, acrylic mini album and snowflake chipboard album.

Purse mini album, 25 yards of ribbon, small ribbon assortment, acrylic embellishments, chipboard accents and metal sliders.

Cupcake mini album, suede flowers and cupcake stamp.

Closeup of ribbons.

As you can see, this was a spectacular mystery box.  It would be in your best interest to sign up for this daily promotion.  They will send you an email each day so just wait for the one with this great mystery box offer.  You'll be glad you did!

Smooches,