2018 Calendars! April to June

You'll find more information on my Stampin' Up! Blog with these calendars since the only thing about them that's Cricut is the Month.

Susan Vilar Stamps!

Christmas in July - July 6

This card is made entirely from Kitchen Sink stamps.
Kitchen Sink Stamps are different from usual stamps in that they are layered!  Instead of stamping one image, you stamp over the same image to build up depth of color and image.

The poinsettia you see here was 5 layered stamps, and the leaves were 4.

A few years ago I went to an event they sponsored in Houston.  One of the many things I learned was when stamping so many layers, always line up three points on the stamp.  It helps!

Christmas Gifts - Working Ahead!

One of the ladies from my stamp club brought this project to show us, and I fell in LOVE!  I took a picture that evening, and then went on a search.  Thanks so much, Sandra!

The next day I went to all 3 Michael's in our area looking for these trays.  I struck out, but it was a fun day out shopping! When I got home, I then ordered them online. (Stay tuned for a link below.)

 Again, this project uses the DSP Painted Blooms.  Each time I use it I'm more in love with it.

 This detail I added from the original.  It's the new Metallic Thread.  Once you get over the (very small) learning curve, this is a great detail to add to cards/projects!
I really love this saying.

 When I'm finished with the 2 other shadow boxes I'm expecting, there will be a total of 9. This project didn't take that long, but when I really looked at it, there was a LOT of detail!

Lots of die cuts:  the sentiment background, and the 2 butterflies.
Lots of punching:  The sentiment, top scallops, and the bow which uses lots of glue dots.
Embossing:  New butterfly folder on the Soft Sky cs.
Paper tole technique on the flower for depth.
Metallic Thread flower under the rhinestone.
Double bow with the bow maker my Dad made for me!
Embosslits to cut the small butterflies.
Stickles and Crystal Effects on the flower.

Source for the Shadow Trays:  http://shop.canvascorpbrands.com/
This is the specific link for this Shadow Box/Tray: http://shop.canvascorpbrands.com/products/solo-tray-white.

Dress Cards - Happy Birthday!

Again this is the Painted Blooms DSP.  There are just so many pretty patterns in this Designer Paper!

I have 2 wonderful friends that craft with me.  When we can, we get together once a week to work on whatever project we've got going.  It's a great time to connect with friends, and I enjoy making snacks to share.  I like to try new recipes, and it's even more fun to share them.

 My friend saw one of the dress Christmas cards I made last year, and requested it.  The problem with that was that once I sign and seal them during the year, I don't remember which card is which! 

 SO, with her birthday in June, and this beautiful paper, I made some dresses! 

Happy Birthday, my dear friend!  :)

Niece's Birthday Card

My recent fascination with the spinner cards led to this Birthday card for our niece.
She's a crafter as well, just starting out.  I knew she's really appreciate this card.

I used my 3 favorite happy colors - Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, and Melon Mambo.  Together, they just make me happy!  That was the idea for the birthday card!  :)

I took a video of the card, but didn't take a still picture!  RRRrrrrr   so here's a video clip. 

Mother's Day Card

Mom did receive this card in time for Mother's Day.  I just had the image sitting in my camera and finally got it downloaded!

Lots of pinks on this card - Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, and Pretty in Pink (ret.)

After embossing with the filigree folder, I inked up the design to help see the details.

The Stamp set is actually a Christmas stamp!  I used very light greens to stamp it, and after adding the flowers, it doesn't look anything like a Christmas wreath!  It's like a multi-tasking stamp!  Very cool!

Please enjoy!  Mom said she loved it!

CASE'D Card

Pinterest is an amazing resource!  AMAZING!

I see so many things I want to make - food, cards, crafts, school ideas for my classroom.... the list is endless!  Yes, really endless.  I have almost 2,000 pins on 115 boards.  I kept hearing about it from friends, and didn't get on it until I knew I'd have some time - and WOW!  just like the internet, anything you can think of is there!

This is a card I saw, and wanted to play around with it.

The background is the swirl from Everything Eleanor, and the flowers are stamped in Perfect Plum, and Coastal Cabana.

Glue dots for placement and some rhinestones.... voila!  A quick, cute card.  I can't decide which sentiment to put on the front yet.  Something will present itself eventually.

May Stamp Club with a Challenge!

Because of Memorial Day, our club is always moved to the first Monday in June.

These are the projects Kathy had for us.  ADORABLE - and a Challenge!


We used lots of the new products since the new catalog went live the next day.

The Ronald McDonald Charities stamp set has SO MANY possibilities!  I don't usually like them much, but this one will get used OFTEN!  It's called Sprinkles of Life and comes with a coordinating punch which makes life so much easier!

Topping the gift box is the new 'cotton paper'.  I've made many flowers, just as many from our stamp club.  This paper is FANTASTIC!  When you crunch it into shape, it stays!  You don't have to fight with it like we did with our previous method.

This card was the MOST fun!  It's a spinner card!  It took some engineering, and with some technique and know-how it looks SO COOL!

 The flower spins from one side of the card to the other.  I have some videos coming on how amazing this looks in person.

Flowers from my Favorite Uncle!

This past month, I hit a milestone birthday.  I received a beautiful bouquet of a dozen roses from Uncle Paul, Aunt Nancy, and Jeff for my birthday to celebrate it.  They were spectacular!

 I always photograph the flowers so they will last forever!

 Each one of the flowers opened up so nicely, I shared a couple of them.

Here you have a picture of the entire dozen.  They lasted a good long while and I enjoyed every moment!

Sister's Birthday Card

 This is the birthday card I made for my sister this year.
I used two of the new butterfly die cuts and layered them.

 I used many of my favorite card backgrounds - Gorgeous Grunge, and the punch layering I discovered recently.

I do hope that when she finally receives it, she likes the card.  Her favorite color is purple, so I hope it does the trick!

Christmas in July - July 29, 2014

Does someone want a dress from Santa, or will Mrs. Santa wear this when he returns?  Who knows!

Another scraps card!  I had an extra circle left from the trees (posted earlier this month), and it fit the dress framelit quite well!  I adhered the circle to the edge of a piece of vanilla cardstock, and cut out the full dress.  Layer on some of the ribbon flowers,  a folded piece of Cherry Cobbler for the sash, and a small bow at the waist.  The bow is not so overpowering in person as it is in this picture.
Use markers to color the holly pieces, and Cherry Cobbler ink for "Dear Santa,". 

Christmas in July - July 27, 2014

 Something NEW!   Some time ago I bought another Cuttlebug Quilled flower - this time from Amazon.  They are not difficult to make by any means - you just need some equipment.  Since I use longer dies, and have 2 other quilled flower pieces, I had what I needed.  You need the long A, B, and C plates.  This technique will also work easily in a Big Shot with the same long plates for the die cuts.

Ok... enough about the supplies.

Here are two of the quilling flowers - Poinsettias.  Instead of using yellow for the centers, I used a scrap of vanilla cs I had, and added yellow stickles to the stamens.

This card has quite a bit of dimension, and will either be delivered in person, or sent in a small box.

Christmas in July - July 1, 2014

Christmas in July is here again!
I'm going to try again this year to do it again - one card for each day of the month of July.

Here's my card for the first day of July.
It's a Dahlia fold card.  I'm going to make more of these, but I'll start with a smaller circle.  2 1/2 inch circles are too large for a regular A2 card base.  Oops!  Knowing that now, they'd be great on a scrapbook page at this size!

Once I started, I kept going because I'm using some of my very favorite DSP, and didn't want to scrap the project in mid-stream.
I could have used only half and adhered it to the edge, and had enough flower for 2 cards.... that would be a solution in hind-sight!  :)  Isn't hindsight wonderful....  it's always 20/20.

You can find a tutorial for these Dahlia folds on Splitcoast Stampers.  Just don't use a 2 1/2 inch circle on an A2 card base!