A Sweet Little Frame

Hi All! I can't believe it's already time for another Rose Blossom Garden Challenge! Where did May go?!? 

Today's challenge is to make something using the "Birthday Girl" key on Close To My Heart's Cricut Artiste cartridge. Here's my answer to the challenge:

I decided to make a couple of cupcake frames for Mother's Day gifts for my mom and mother-in-law. I cut the base of the cupcake at 5 inches first from chipboard and then from Dream Pop card stock. I also cut 3 bases from Black cardstock, inked the edges with Black Exclusive Ink, and used them on the back for a stand. I then cut two of the wrapper images from Dream Pop paper and one more from chip board. I layered one wrapper directly on the cupcake and one on the chipboard wrapper. I then cut three icing layers from Dream Pop and another from chipboard. I layered one image on the cupcake and one on the chipboard piece. I popped the chipboard layers up with dimensional adhesive. Before sticking them down, though, I sketched out an opening for the 2x2-inch Flip Flap that would house my photo. I cut both chipboard layers to the size of the desired opening. Once that was done, I inked the edges of the pieces with Sorbet Exclusive Ink and adhered them to the bottom layer. I added my photo and Flip Flap, and then the third icing layer, which was also inked with Sorbet Exclusive Ink. The third layer serves to camouflage the opening of the Flip Flap while still allowing you to change out the photos. I then blinged it up with bitty and medium size sparkles, a sparkle button from my stash, and Sunset Bakers Twine from the Paradise Assortment.

The back was made by layering one black cupcake on the back of the chipboard. I then layered two together to give them more weight and folded them down the middle. I attached one side of the fold to the chipboard and left the other side free to act as a stand.

Here are some close-ups of the bling:

I hope you enjoyed my sweet little frame. I look forward to seeing what creative projects you can come up with over in the Rose Blossom Garden!

A Beautiful Challenge

Hi All! Happy Spring! It's April 15th, and you know what that means.... (No, not "it's time to file for an extension on my taxes...") It means it's time for the second Rose Blossom Garden Challenge for the month of April! Today's challenge is to use the "Mother's Day" key on the Artiste Cricut Cartridge by Close To My Heart. While that key has a lovely little box on it, I decided to think outside it a bit and see what I could come up with. Here it is:

So what do you think? For this project, I used patterned paper from the Chantilly collection, a little strip of Blush cardstock, Sparkles, Color-Ready Seam Binding, and a little glitter gel. The basket is actually made from the cupcake wrapper cut at 2 1/2 inches. I inked around the edges with Blush Exclusive ink, and added a strip of Blush cardstock accented with White Daisy brads [ret.] for a handle. I also added a little circle of chipboard covered with the same green patterned paper that I used for the leaves as a base for my bucket. I used pink and clear Sparkles for a final touch of fun.

To create the tulips, I cut 20 tulip shapes at 1 1/4 inches. I inked around the edges of each flower with Blush Exclusive ink and scored and folded each in half. I then glued five together to make a 3D flower. (Important note: the color of the tulip will be the color that is on the inside of the fold. So I folded 10 with pink and 10 with yellow on the inside. Scoring the tulips made it easier to fold them in half.) After all the adhesive was dry, I added glitter gel to give them an extra pop (and to hide the seams). I used toothpicks for stems, and poked them through the chipboard base so they would stand up.

For the leaves, I cut 6 leaves at 2 inches. I then used the flip key to cut 6 more so that I could glue them back to back with the green patterned paper showing. I inked the edges with Sweet Leaf Exclusive ink and glued them to the base of the bucket.

I cut the "#1 Mom" at 3 inches and then used the flip feature again to cut another one so that I could glue them together. (I wanted to used the yellow pattern for both front and back.) I tied the sentiment to the basket handle with crochet thread (the bakers twine was a little thicker than I liked) and added a Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon bow. 

This was such a fun project to make! If you remove the sentiment, it could easily be used for a birthday, get well, or "just because..." gift. The best part is that these flowers don't have to be watered and they never die. It's a little bit of perpetual spring! Be sure to check out all the fun ideas to be had in the Rose Blossom Garden. Remember, this whole project was cut using only the Mother's Day key. (Okay, except for the circle base to the bucket, which is from my stash...) 

As a reminder, here's how the challenge works. Each month you will be given 2 challenges: one on the first of the month and one on the 15th. Each challenge will involve a single key on one of the CTMH Cricut cartridges. You may choose to play in one or both challenges, it's up to you. At the end of each challenge (so that's twice a month) we (the design team and our lovely leader, Brenda Rose) will choose 3 Top Projects for that challenge. Then, at the end of the month, we will choose a Top Project for the month and do a random drawing from among the participants for the monthly prize--which will be  a Close To My Heart stamp set that coordinates with our Cricut cartridges. (How cool is that?!) April's winner will receive the Perfect Fit Frames stamp set.

So come play along with us in the Rose Blossom Garden! I can't wait to see what you make!

A Tisket A Tasket A Kraft-y Little Mother's Day Basket

Hello All! Welcome to day 2 of our Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share featuring Floral Happiness, Close To My Heart's March Stamp Of The Month. If you haven't yet made it to Lynn's Bungalow, don't forget to hop over and see the beauty she has to share!

I know it's a bit on the early side for Mother's Day, and I started out making an Easter basket, but you know what they say about the best laid plans...

Without further ado, here's today's little bit of inspiration:

So let's start with the basket:

I love using the rose shadow stamps to make my own background paper. For this basket, I used the medium rose and stamped it in Sweet Leaf Exclusive Ink on Sweet Leaf Cardstock. (Tone on tone is one of my favorite techniques to use with these stamps.) The basket is made from a 6-inch square piece of cardstock that was scored at 2 inches and 4 inches. (Here's an old tutorial on it.) I punched out a scalloped circle in Crème Brulee Cardstock (you could use your Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for this too). I layered that with a 1 1/4-inch circle in Sweet Leaf Cardstock. "Mother's Day" is stamped in Gypsy Exclusive Ink using the Tag the Occasion [ret.] Stamp Set. The back ground was made using the 2nd generation stamping technique. I used a 1-inch circle punch to punch it out and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. The whole flower is popped up with dimensional adhesive so that it covers the brad that is holding the handle to the basket. I did an identical flower for the other side. A little bow made from Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon adds some extra flare.

 Here's a close-up of the basket tag:

And now for the card. Here it is closed:

The base of the card is made from Crème Brulee Cardstock and is cut to 3 x 6 inches. I scored it at 1 1/2 inches and 3 inches to form an easel. The front layer is also from Crème Brulee Cardstock to which I added scalloped borders of Sweet Leaf. I stamped the Amethyst [ret.] Cardstock layer with Smokey Plum Exclusive Ink. I liked the tonal effect. I used Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon to tie the layers together (visually, not literally, of course). I made a tag like the ones I used on the basket and tied it to the ribbon with a little crochet thread from my stash. Finally, I added bitty pearls for extra elegance.

Here it is opened:

I scalloped the base of the card and added bitty pearls to the scallops to mimic the front. I used a couple of punches to create the stopper (you could use the Artiste Cricut Cartridge for this) and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. "I love you" is also from the Tag the Occasion [ret.] Stamp Set. I added some bitty pearls to tie it together.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the card:

 And the set, again:

I hope you're inspired to create your own backgrounds now and then. It's a lot of fun to experiment with the different looks--tone on tone, different hues, etc. Remember, Floral Happiness can be yours for $5 with any qualifying order of $50 or more, or you can purchase it on its own for $17.95. It is available through 31 March. 

Now if you haven't done so, hop over to see what the wonderfully talented Lynn Darda has been Kraft-ing at From My Bungalow.

See you tomorrow!