Flower Pot Cards

Working outside today on the deck to get the flowers planted for the the summer and wanted to share some Flower Pot Cards that I created this weekend. Perfect for Mother's Day, something to make you smile, these cards will hold a special sentiment or a gift card for that sweet "MOM". All the flower cuts were done with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, I swear it never leaves my cricut.

The daisies were made using Flower1 on page 21 @ 1 3/4 inch need 2 per flower, with a circle center on page 21 cut at 1/2 inch. I pop dotted the 2 flower sections apart as well as the center dot, to give more dimension and inked just the tips in honey ink. The leaves were Branch1 pg. 43 cut at 1 1/2 inches from New England ivy cardstock and I used 4 or 5 sprays. The pullout section on the daisy card measures 6 x 3 1/4. I measured up 3 1/2 inches from bottom on both sides and then trimmed from that mark down in an angle to match my pot. I wanted a wider base for the daisies and leaves to sit on.

For the tulips I used the Oval1 on page 22 cut at 3/4 inch and I cut 3 per tulip. I used some retired patterned paper and inked the edges all the way around the ovals before gluing them together. I cut the stems from from scrap New England Ivy as well as the leaves (just elongated leaf with point at end).

For the pull out section of the card, the insert base 6 7/8 x 2 3/8. The colonial ivy portion which sits inside the pot and is large enough for a gift card is 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. I glued down my tulips, the stems and leaves, then trimmed around the bouquet, removing any olive cardstock that surrounded the flowers and leaves.
Here is a great tutorial for how to make a Flower Pot card with pictures to show you how the pot is cut.Thank you Stephanie Luman for posting this terrific tutorial.  I changed the dimensions a bit. My Autumn Terracotta cardstock was cut 3 1/2 x 8 " , I scored @ 1" and 3 1/2". I also embossed the bottom of the pot with a cuttlebug folder for character.

These cards are longer than a standard size invitation card, the height is about 7 inches, and the width 4 1/4.
As always if you have any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.
I'd love to know what you think, so please leave me a comment. Thanks and have a wonderful Day!

My little bit of Spring

I love yellow tulips and wanted to make some to brighten up my computer area, so that I can enjoy them year round if I want. I used the Art Philosophy cartridge and cut the oval 3 at 3 inches. Double up two ovals on top of each other and then cut a zigzag pattern across the middle of the stacked ovals, thereby cutting them in half. Now you have 4 flower top pieces. Double up the matching pieces, you will use 2 top pieces for each tulip. I dry embossed the top pieces using a cuttlebug embossing folder to add some texture.Take a long meat skewer (got mine at $tree) and wrapped floral tape down it to cover.Tied a pink gingham bow to each wrapped skewer. Free hand cut out some long pointed leaves, once I had a good design, I just traced it onto cardstock for the rest of the flowers. I scored down the center of the leaves and folded on score line to give dimension. Glued the leaf ends to the skewer with liquid glass by wrapping the bottom of the leaf around the skewer and clamped with clothes pins until dry (doesn't take long). Then I added the tulip by sandwiching the skewer between two tulip tops securing with liquid glass. Clamped the tulip base to skewer with clothes pin until dry as well.
The base is an open tray made from a piece of 12x8 inch cardstock. Score 2 inches from all 4 edges and fold on score lines. I mitered the corners bringing the fold to the inside and glued securely with liquid glass and clamped with clothes pins to dry. Then I cut a 1 inch by 6 x 4 piece of Styrofoam of the inside of the tray to stick the tulips into. Cover Styrofoam with Easter grass and my planter box of tulips is done to make me smile.

Bunny Pillow Boxes

Tracey Sanders over at http://gr8scraps.blogspot.com/ has once again created something I couldn't wait to try for my two littlest grandsons. I made these little guys to go into their Easter baskets and the great thing about them is that they are large enough for a toy, or pretzels, or apple snacks individually wrapped. In our family it's not all about the candy. Thank you Tracey for your ideas. I changed mine up a bit, used Heavenly Blue instead of blush, increased the size of the head to 3 3/4 instead of 3 1/2, added some pink buttons for the noses, and used some plain wide brown grosgrain ribbon. Check out Tracey's terrific design and leave her a comment letting her know how much you like her cute ideas. Everyone love to find a comment showing that you like what they do.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Shamrocks blowing in the wind. A new 3D art canvas for my daughter's guest room that she has decided to do in a Celtic theme. I will be seeing her tomorrow for St. Patrick's day and with a last name of O'Leary we tend to celebrate it as a major holiday. We will be going to DC area for a welcome home party for my nephew after his safe return from Afghanistan so I know we will be spending it with family and friends, good food and good times. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Irish or not?
AP cricut cartridge used to cut various sizes of hearts, 6 of each size per shamrock. Fold hearts in half and glue on flap of each folded heart to the other to form a petal, 3 petals to a shamrock and I just hand cut the stems of various sizes. Art canvas is 12 x16 and framed with a 12 x16 frame with glass removed. Hope you enjoy and I can't wait to give it to Shannon when I see her tomorrow.

Easter is right around the corner

Here are a couple of cute cards to make for Easter/Spring.

Here are a couple of cute cards to make for Easter/Spring.

Both of these cards uses the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and cuttlebug folders, two of my favorite things for creating. The Bunnies were created cutting Petal2 shape, p59 @ 1 1/2 inches for ears in white, you need 4, and 4 @ 1 inch in pink( mine were watermelon CTMH). Heads were circle shape on p 21 cut @ 1 1/4 need 2, and butt @ 1 1/4 need 1 in white. Muzzle was same circle cut 1/2 inch need 4, for the white eyes I changed my expression to cut in 10ths and use .40 as the cutting size, need 4. Pink nose was cut @ 1/4 inch need 2. Feet were cut from the egg shape 9 p 57 @ 1 inch and so were the Easter eggs hidden in the grass.  Black eyes were punched with a 1/4 hole punch. The frame for the sentiment was cut from Shape3 p 46, Decorative layer @ 1 inch.  I cut a strip of New England Ivy patterned paper from my stash and used scissors to fringe the grass. The top cardstock was embossed with the Swiss Dot cuttlebug embossing template and sanded to make the dots pop. I popped the face off the ears, the muzzle off the face and the nose off the muzzle. I glitter glued pink  the nose and inside the ears to give some sparkle and because who doesn't love glitter. A simple bow and some tiny pearls finishes the card.
Chick Card
Buttercup and Honey are the CTMH colors used on this card. AP cricut cuts are:
1 Circle2 card p 31 @ 4 inches, 2 Tab2 font layer p58 @ 1 3/4 for wings, 1 Oval2 accent p. 32 @ 2 inches for top of head, 2 Oval 2 accents p 32 @ 2 1/2 inches for feet, 1 Banner4 p49 @ 1 1/4 for beak, 2 Circle p21 @ 1 inch for white eyes, @ 3/4 for black eyes, @ 1/4 for eyes centers. Inside I cut another circle 2 card in a coordinating patterned paper p31 @ 3 3/4.
Assembly: Emboss card front with Swiss Dots folder, emboss wings with swirls folder. Ink edges in honey. Measure where you want wings and slit front of card to tuck in back of wings. Adhere to inside of card, dimensional tape under wings on front to pop off card at wing base. Assemble eyes with circles Attach beak and eyes, pop dot eyes. Trim 2" oval accent piece by cutting in center and use top half for feathers at top ( there is a small slit in the top of the card base which the cricut makes when you cut out the card, the base of the feathers will fit into that slit) adhere to inside of card. Cut both of the 2 1/2 inch oval accent pieces in half and use bottom half for the feet, removing the curly pieces on the side of the 3 center feet section. Adhere to inside of card. Adhere the patterned card to the inside of the card which will cover up almost all of the pieces where you adhered your pieces inside the card to give a finished look.
I hope you like these little guys, if you have any questions just let me know.
Happy Spring!

Mini Bunny Basket

Adorable little mini Bunny Basket for your enjoyment. Let this little girl brighten your Easter with room for a small gift in the Easter Basket or alone for cute decorations on your Easter table.

 Cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge, finished basket is a 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 inch container . Use page 23 Basket set on Fit to Page.The feet were cut from Oval 2 on page 32 at 1 1/2" (cut 2), the ears are on page 59 Petal 2, cut 2 in white 3 31/4" and 2 pink at 3". Nose  uses Heart pg 26 cut at 1" in white and 3/4" in pink. Eyes are circle cut 1/2" in black, Foot pads pg. 21 circle in pink 2 at 1" and 6 at 1/4" Whiskers were just 1/4" strips cut various lengths.  Only takes minutes to put together. I did take the cut out from the handles on the basket and reinsert behind the ears with the back of the ears holding it in place so you don't see a hole between the ears. A double pink bow also helps to hide the seams.  It's got a white cotton ball on the back for her cottontail.

February Hostess Cards

I almost never gravitate to yellows, maybe because it's just not a great color on me,so when I decided to come up with a couple of cards for my monthly hostess club ladies, I challenged myself to use yellows. Buttercup met honey and my yellow monochromatic butterfly card was done. A cuttlebug embossing folder was used on the first buttercup layer to give another dimension, then a layer of honey for contrast, a pinstriped embossed buttercup which we made scoring every line on a Martha Stewart scoring pad ( you could also use your stylus and 12" fiskar trimmer). Our beautiful lacy butterflies were cut using the AP Cricut cartridge in Honey and popped up in the center using foam tape and accented with 3 white pearls. A simple white bow finishes the card. I like to sometimes not include a sentiment so that I have cards on hand that I can personalize as I need them.

The new Card Word Puzzle is such a fun stamp set and I just love the Rose image that is part of this set. Our next card uses a heat embossing technique that is so much fun. We started out with white cardstock and stamped the rose image three times on the white with versamark, then we sprinkled the versamark image with clear detail embossing powder and heat embossed it. Using a sponge and Grey Wool ink we worked the grey wool ink over the entire white cardstock in a circular motion. Then a phrase was stamped in black surrounded by a frame cut with the AP Cricut cartridge in black cs accented with small white pearls. This layer was mounted on buttercup, then black and finally the base white card. I didn't take a picture but a single grey wool rose is stamped inside the card as well.