Happy Birthday to You

Hello, again.
I have a card that I'll be entering in two challenges.

I used the 'Happy Birthday' cut from Cricut's Paper Lace 2 cartridge, cut at 3 1/4", and the flower spray from Cricut's Cindy Loo cartridge, cut at 1 1/4".

I'm entering this in the Bitten by the Bug 2 challenge, Birthday, and the Shopping Our Stash challenge, anything Musical.

Please, visit both these blogs to see the inspiration from the design team as well as those who enter the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Creating.
Rae Ann

A Useful Sketch for Exploring Cricut and More

Welcome.  A couple of years ago I saw a YouTube clip about making a composition notebook into a craft inventory book.  I adapted it and included sketches and samples of cards I liked (my own portable pinterest).  As I looked through it I decided to use one of the sketches to create an easy backdrop for all kinds of cards.  Here's the Get Well card I made.

 



For this sketch you need 3 compatible papers - here it's the one with circles, the one with varied stripes and the solid across the bottom.  Any kind of 'divider' can be used between the top and bottom - a ribbon, an edged strip, even a straight strip.  A scalloped circle, which I cut from Cricut's Forever Young cartridge, looks good in an accent color.  The inner circle and the strip seem to look good when they are the same color.

At this point, any focus design and any sentiment can turn your card into the theme of your choice.  I cut a spray of flowers from the Cricut Cindy Loo cartridge in white and used markers to color the flowers and greens.  Since this greeting was so centered I added the bling to fill in the space.

This is a great recipe for lovely cards.

I hope you like this idea.  Please continue to visit Exploring Cricut and More each day for ideas from our design team and, don't forget, there will be another challenge next Monday.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann

Mother's Day Challenge at Exploring Cricut and More

Welcome!  This week's challenge is to create a card, layout, or paper project with a Mother's Day theme.  Include at least one ribbon.

For this card I used Cricut''s Suburbia cartridge for the silhouette and the Cindy Loo Cartridge for the curly decorations.  I had cut out an oval for another project using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and this piece was left, so I used it.  Some glitter gle accents the oval and fills the holes in the edging.  My ribbon is the little bow.
The stamp is part of a set called 'Greeings Galore" which I purchased from Impression Obsession.
I don't recall the brand of edger this is; I cut it too wide so the left-over pink strip broke it up and added just the right visual balance.

Please join our challenge with your Mother's Day creations at Exploring Cricut and More.  We love to see your ideas.  And, drop by everyday for samples from our design team.

Thanks fo atopping by.  Happy Creating.
Rae Ann

My Monday for Exploring Cricut - Some Thank You Cards

My birthday is tomorrow.  I won't tell you my age but this joke applies:  seniors should enjoy junk foods - they need all the preservatives they can get. LOL
I noticed my supply of 'thank you' cards was low so I designed a few while watching Halloween movies this week.
This first one came from the Art Deco cartridge; the letters were cut from the Suburbia alphabet.  I had to make this card a 5 x 7 to have room for the 1 inch letters.  This took longer to make because of all the small pieces and layers - but they look so good it's worth the effort.

 

This next one is all from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  The design was cut at 3 inches, the 'Thanks' at 1 1/4 inches.  It's a standard 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 card.

 

 

I really like this one.  The rose is from the Quarter Note cartridge, cut at 2 inches (the width of the flower).  I'm not crazy about the red and black color scheme the patterns use so I cut out an extra base in green, cut off the flower from the dard red cut and glued it on.  Then I just added the lighter red layer.  The word is from the Cindy Loo cartridge.



It was easy to made a couple at a time so I have a good supply now.  I hope these give you some ideas; the last two were definitely quick and easy and look good.
Please continue to visit Exploring Cricut each day to see the great ideas our team comes up with.  And, please join our challenges every other week.  We love to see your work, too.
Happy creating.
Rae Ann

A Flower Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Hello Everyone!  Are you getting a taste of spring yet?  To keep you in the mood for spring our challenge asks you to create a card, layout, or project that contains a flower.  I created this tag.

I used Cricut Flower Shoppe to create the flowers, Picturesque to cut the tag (at 3 inches), the reinforcer for the hole and the leaves. and Cindy Loo for the swirls.  The quote is from a Close to My Heart set that I bought at the recent stamping show.  It's called Woman Quotes.  This one is Mae West who states, "Too much of a good thing is wonderful."  I think that applies to flowers.

Please join us with your project at Exploring Cricut.  We look forward to seeing your creations.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann

My Day at Exploring Cricut

First, I'd like to share that I had a great time this weekend at our once-a-year Scrapbooking and Stamping Show.

Heirloom Productions brings this show each spring and I only live a few blocks away.  Talk about convenient!  I saved up so I could spend more than I usually do.  Most of my money went toward filling in my missing colors of distress ink pads and markers.  With the show's lower prices I really made each dollar count.  It was a most enjoyable weekend.
My project today was created for Earth Day which will be here soon. 

The earth came from the Phrases cartridge and the tree came from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  The tiny bird I cut out from a picture I found; the white flower and the background paper and corners came from my stash.  The tree is on foam dots to add dimension.
Please continue to visit Exploring Cricut for daily inspiration from out design team and a new challenge next Monday.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann