I-Rock Tutorial Tuesday with Mandie

This month we are talking about one of my favorite tools to use... the I-Rock by Imaginisce! We are also making some Christmas projects to get you in the holiday crafting mood.... mine isn't exactly Christmas but you could certainly translate this idea into a fun Christmas craft!

This summer my 5 year old went to a fun Vacation Bible School and she had this really cute I Heart VBS shirt but it wasn't "girly" enough for her. So I grabbed my I-Rock and my Gem Compact and went to work!


First I did a dry fit of the stones in a pattern I liked. Then I grabbed my I-Rock and let it heat up for about 30 seconds. Then I started adhearing them. *Special Note* when you are doing a project like this make sure you have fresh batteries in your tool, it will save you a LOT of frustration! You only need to hold the tool on the stones for about 10 seconds... maybe a few extra on the big ones. You will kind of see the glue at the edges melt and you know it's done.



After I finished the front I added a few stones to the back too... the State Of Liberty's Crown, the Top of the Chrysler Building and the Taxi and got a bit of bling!


Here's a shot of the completed heart. I will say, I SHOULD have done the stones on the FABRIC of the shirt and NOT the paint. The stones on the back stayed put but the ones one the heart shed off during the day. But, my friend who also did this with me did her's around the outside of her heart and they worked perfectly!

You can wash your shirt after it is blinged, just make sure to turn it inside out and hang to dry! You can easily personalize a store bought shirt with many of the gorgeous gems available at the Cutters Creek Store!

Celebrate Everything! by Deanna M

In honor of summer my project for you today is an ice cream cone card.  I started with some Kraft card and made my card a portrait card by cutting my paper at 4 1/4" X 11 and scored it at 5 1/2". I then grabbed a couple of pieces of card stock from my Echo Park Paper Pad Summer Days. I cut the red mat at 4" X 5 1/4" and the patterned paper with the ice cream cones at 3 3/4" X 5". I used my corner rounder to round the corners of all the layers and the card base. My cupcake is cut at 3" from the Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge. I used my Imagine to cut the image and the Bubblegum Stripes cartridge for the colors. For the shadow I used a black with tiny pink polka dots also from the Bubblegum Stripes cartridge. This cartridge is a special order cartridge from Cutter's Creek so if interested please be sure to contact Kim. I adhered my paper layers together and wrapped some yellow and white striped bakers twine around them and adhered the mats to my card with my ATG Gun (which I love by the way!!!) For my Ice Cream Cone I ran the cone part through my cuttlebug and embossed it with the Houndstooth Embossing Folder. I then used my Tea Dye Distress Ink to ink over the embossing to help it stand out. I layered my image and then added it to my card with some foam tape. To finish the card I added some iRock Hot Rocks Glitter Gems to add sprinkles to my cone.  To the drip I added some Glossy Accents to give it some dimension and shine so it looks wet. Finally added my sentiment stamped in some brown ink.

A White Christmas with Lori

Welcome to Christmas in July!  This week, I'm sharing my White Christmas card with you.  I've based my card on a challenge blog I follow, and will have a total of 5 cards over on my blog over the next 5 business days if you'd like to see more ideas.  (I'm also having a giveaway during the same timeframe!)

 

Ooh, shiny!  I loved that this challenge included bling as one of the requirements & I went to town with this one.  Here's a detail shot of a little more bling you can't see in the main picture:

I had a lot of fun with layering on this card, and adding a few special touches.  I made my "gift bow" using ribbon from my stash and a sparkly brad.  Also, to define the edges of all that white, I sponged on a little ink all the way around.  My sentiment is embossed on its own little panel and popped up with foam adhesive dots.  I also added a few i-rock gems to my embossed snowflake centers.

Supplies I used:

• American Crafts glitter cardstock, Silver
• Scor-Tape
• Cardstock
• Cuttlebug embossing folder, Snowflakes
• Stamping Ink
• Glimmer Mist, Pearl
• Sentiment Stamp, Inkadinkadoo
• Silver Embossing Powder
• Heat Tool
• i-Rock tool
• i-Rock gems, silver
• ATG adhesive
• Ribbon
• pop-up foam adhesive

 Note - that heat tool does double duty!  I use it to speed dry my Glimmer Mist as well as heat emboss my stamped sentiment.  Well worth the investment!  I also used my Glimmer Mist to spray my paper first before embossing.  Damp cardstock embosses SO much easier than dry.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'd love if you'd hop over to my blog and check out my giveaway, and the next several days of White Christmas.

Fun in the Sun Tutorial Tuesday by Mandie

Glad you could drop by for another edition of Tutorial Tuesday here on the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog! Before I get started I just want to remind you that you can sign up to subscribe to our blog posts and also subscribe to the store newsletter in the side bar!

July is going to be an exciting month for us here on the blog because we have Summer CHA coming up and that means Kim is going to be adding some great new products to the store again... This month we are going to be focusing on the i-rock gems on Tutorial Tuesday and here's the card I made:


First I stamped out the image from The Greeting Farm, Cheeky Beach, and colored her in my my Copics. I've been very slowing expanding my collection so I actually have a couple colors besides the skin tones now! I'm still learning about my Copics too... like use GOOD paper, this one got a bit runny. My coloring wasn't awful but the colors traveled in this paper. But I still thought she was cute enough to use! If you click the close up picture you can see how I added a bit of sparkle with my Stardust Gelly Roll Pen.


Next I made the sandy layer. I started with a tan cardstock for my base then used Yellow Daisy, Walnut Gold and Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist to create the sandy look. Then I grabbed my Echo Park Summer Days 6 x 6 Paper Pad and grabbed the blues for the sea and sky. I tore the paper by hand for the "waves" and I really like how they came out. Once the sea, sand and sky were in place I decided that I needed a big blingy sun! So I cut a 5/8" circle from white cardstock and used the Yellow Daisy Glimmer Mist to color it. Then I grabbed my i-rock and the Hot Rocks Compact and added the yellow rhinestones to my sun.


Finally I stamped "Fun" and "Sun" with some alphas from my stash and wrote "in the" in between for my sentiment. What a fun summery greeting to send! Thanks so much for joining us for another Tuesday! Make sure you check back often, we have a surprise filled month!

Just Because Card by Deanna

I recently got the Kate’s ABC’s Cricut cartridge and knew immediately what I wanted to do when I saw this image on the cartridge. This image reminded me of the chives in bloom that I grow on my back patio in pots.
My card base is an A2 4 1/4” X 5 1/2” cream card stock. My orange and patterned paper is from a Basic Grey 6” X 6” paper pad I got from Cutter’s Creek several months ago and is no longer available. I really encourage you to get some of the 6” X 6” pads that Cutter’s Creek sells like the new Echo Park pads. They are great for card making, the patterns are shrunk down to be in proportion to the size and work great for cards reducing waste. Check them out.
Back to my card. I used the Elegant Edges cartridge for the decorative mat and cut both the shadow and the base image from page 38 of the handbook using the oblong creative feature.
My yellow layer of the decorative mat was actually cut out of white card stock. I used some Wild Honey Distress Ink and my Inkssentials Blending Foam and the Alcohol Ink Applicator to apply the ink in a circular motion over my entire piece of white card stock. Then I sprayed it with some Sun Sister’s Glimmer Mist. Once I sprayed the card stock and lightly blotted it with a paper towel and let it dry.
While the card stock was drying I cut out my image from page 67 of the Kate’s ABC’s handbook. I cut all the layers at 3” and followed the colors as they worked for what I wanted to do.  After adhering all the layers together I got out my Sweet Pea Flower Soft and my Flower Soft Glue and got to work. I applied the glue to the flowers and sprinkled the flower soft over the glue and tamped it down using my finger. I allowed it to dry and then gently tapped off the excess and loose flower soft.
To finish my card, I added a piece of twine from my stash to the pot and attached the image to my card front with some foam tape . I then added some pink I-Rocks Glitter Gems in two sizes using my heat set tool to each corner of my yellow mat. Love this gem set, it has several different colors and each color and several different sizes. I opted to use two sizes with a larger one in the middle.  I haven’t stamped a sentiment yet as I haven’t decided who will be getting this card and for what occasion.
While the cricut cartridges are not listed on the Cutter’s Creek site Kim might be able to order them for you, just ask.

Graduation Card by Vicki

Spring is here, and that means graduation time!! I have a family member graduating college, from a local regional university, and I know she loves homemade things. I made this card using her school's colors.

I started with a kraft base, half a sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch paper, folded in half with my Scor Pal. Using my Gypsy, I set up and enlarged the mortar board, tassle and sentiment. The black mortar board, and accompanying gold tassle were made using the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge. The sentiment is from Wild Card. I adjusted the sizing of both of these to fit perfectly on the front of my 4.25 x 5.5 inch space.

Next, I cut a piece of golden yellow card stock to perfectly in the embossing folder Cuttlebug Emboss A2 Border Frills.  I ran this through my Cuddlebug using a standard sandwich. I fired up my iRock tool, and selected a combination of colors that would coordinate well with my design, but still stand out. I picked copper and gold, but I could have easily selected colors from the new iRock glitter Hot Rocks Compact.

Following the directions on the iRock, I adhered one jewel per flower center. As a note, be careful when using this tool, as it is very easy to OVER melt the glue at the bottom of the gem, and that makes your gems an ugly mess that can't be undone!

As I dry fit all my items, the yellow gold I had picked for the floral border was too bright for the rest of the items. So, I pulled out my Ranger Distress Ink in Black Soot and lightly swept the inkpad all over the top of the embossing.

I adhered all the larger pieces to the card using my Glue Glider Pro, and the sentiment's thin letters with the Sakura Quickie Glue Pen.

I am awful at signing my work, so I purchased a stamp set by Image Tree called Handmade that I stamp on the back of my cards, to remind me to put my name on my work.

Graduation cards don't have to be complicated to be appreciated.

Deanna's Easter Bunny Card

With Easter just a week away I made this cute Easter card for you. My card base is white card stock cut at 7” X 10” and scored at 5” and folded to make a 5” X 7” card base. I then used some scraps from my stash to cut a 4 ¾” X 6 ¾” mat out of plaid paper. The green mat is also from my stash and was cut at 4 ½” X 6 ½”. My bunny was cut at 3” out of brown card stock from the Easter 2010 seasonal Cricut cartridge. To make my bunny really stand out, I sprayed him with some Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist then let him dry. Once was dry I adhered him to my card with my ATG gun.
Once my bunny was attached to my card I decided he needed some grass so I pulled out my Flower Soft. I started with drawing a line with my Flower Soft Adhesive underneath my bunny and applying some Meadow Flower Soft. Working in sections, I then filled in the area from under the bunny to the bottom of my green mat with adhesive and applying the flower soft. Once I had the flower soft all over the adhesive I pressed down on it gently with my hand to make sure it was well adhered to the glue. I let it dry for a few minutes and then gently taped off the excess flower soft.
Now my bunny needed some Easter eggs. I again pulled out some scraps of paper and a couple of small egg stamps that I picked up last Easter. I used some Memento Ink to stamp my eggs. The colors I used were Rosebud and Bahama Blue ink to stamp my eggs. For the purple egg, I used some watermark ink. I hand cut the eggs out using a small pair of scissors. To bling up my eggs I add some Turquoise, Glam Pink, and Purple Stickles. On the solid eggs I added some matching colored I-Rock gems to the center of the flowers and a black gem to the eye of the bunny. Once my eggs were all decorated and dry and attached them to the grass with my Flower Soft Adhesive.
To finish my card I added a brown pompom that I lightly sprayed with the Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist to the tail of my bunny, tied a narrow purple ribbon around his neck and stamped my sentiment with Rosebud Memento Ink.

Flower Soft Dimensions with Chris

Today I got out my SCAL and Cricut Expression and decided to make an A2 card using my Copics and Flower Soft. I started with a digi image an online friend sent me and colored it with my Sketch Copics. (The Hydrangea blossoms: BV00, BV02, and BV04; Leaves: G82, G94, G99; and the shadow around the flowers: BG10, C1, and 0S to blend them a bit). The butterfly was colored with my Copic Atyou Spica Pens - Set A and Set B: Black, Blossom, Buttermilk, Lavender, and Lilac. Using SCAL I cut the image with a deckled rectangle (about 3x4 inches) and then made two larger ones as mats. The purple one is about 3.5x4.5 inches and the green one is 4x5 inches. I inked the edges of both using my Tim Holtz Distress Inks. On the purple one I used Dusty Concord and on the green one I used Milled Lavender. Using 1/4" Scor Tape I mounted the purple rectangle onto the green one and then mounted the green on onto the ivory card base (8.25 x5.5 scored in half). Next I used my 1/2" Scor Tape and I wrapped the ribbon around the front of the card. I then layered the colored image over the ribbon (Scor Tape again—what would I do without it?).


To add some dimension I got out my Light Lavender and Dark Lavender - both from the Lavender and Lace Flower Soft Kit - and Pale Green Flower Soft. I started with the Dark Lavender and squeezed some tiny drops of the Flower Soft High Tack PVA Glue on selected petals. Then, working over a plastic dish, I sprinkled the Flower Soft on. I pressed it down lightly and then tapped off the excess. I repeated this process with the Light Lavender. Similarly I laid out the glue for the green, but instead of drops I made smooth smears of the glue. I set the card aside to dry.

While it was drying, I cut two one inch by 4.25 strips from where I had cut my purple deckled rectangle. On the side that wasn’t deckled I used my Martha Stewart Doiley punch. When the Flower Soft was dry, I glued the trimmed edges along the top and bottom of the card’s inside. I think the deckled edges tie the inside to the outside of the card. I will add a sentiment later when I know what I need this card for, but I am thinking it would be a lovely sympathy card.



Lastly, but not least, I used my Imaginisce I-Rock Tool and 3 I-Rock Hot Rocks Rhinestuds along the bottom edge to finish the card off.

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