Sweet 16 Thank You Cards

Lindsey, and I hope the girls, had a great time at the party!  And every good hostess sends thank you cards.

Keeping with Chelsea Garden's paper, here is the thank you card.  I was inspired by the "A Million thank-yous" card found in the Annual Inspirations idea book on page 37.

I changed out the saying (I don't have the one pictured) to one that's been retired for I don't know how many years.  Lindsey sprayed the upper part of the card with diluted Crystal Blue using our Spray Pen (Z1380).  Unfortunately, I think I diluted Crystal Blue too much because you can't see the color it adds that much (especially in the picture - it's the darker area in the upper part of the card).  I also think she was spraying the cards really close so the drip part was lost.

Still, I like how it turned out!

The longer banner is 5" x 1.5".  The shorter banner is 4.5" x 1".  The Whisper Thick Twine is 5" long with a knot in it.  Liquid Glass was used to adhere it to the card.  The extra was trimmed.

Lindsey took several hours writing her thank yous.  It's really sweet to think about what she wrote to each girl.  I'm one lucky parent!!

Sunny Thoughts Envelope Bag

A fellow consultant challenged me the other day to make something from a box of Kraft colored envelopes.  While we were talking about potential projects, she teasingly asked if I remembered making bags out of envelopes.  She gave me a box of the envelopes, "downsizing" she said.  ;)

I do remember the days we created a bag from an envelope and set out to do just that again.

Let me walk you through how I created mine:

Seal the envelope. That's simple enough.  The flap will allow the bag to be closed rather than drafty.

Cut the envelope - usually in half, to create an opening for the bag.  These envelopes are 11" long by 4.75" wide, and I didn't want my bag that tall.  I cut the envelope in half anyway.  Then I cut an additional 0.25" (from the cut side), twice, for my handles.  And then I just cut off some more so that a gift card would just sit inside the bag.  Therefore, before scoring, I cut the envelope to 4.25".

Score the bottom and the sides.  The first one I scored at 0.75" on the bottom and 0.75" along each side.  I decided it was too wide for me, so I scored this one at 0.5" on the bottom and 0.75" along each side.
Fold on the score lines, really well, folding in the both directions.  Your bone folder really helps here.

Create the bottom.  Now that you've folded the score line really well, open up the envelope.  You will have the natural envelope edge in the middle of your two scored lines.  And as you square the bottom off, you'll notice you have a triangular section forming below the bag.  That's good!  Those triangular sections will get folded and glued to the bottom of the bag.  Use a bone folder to get into the corners of the bag.
You'll also notice the sides of the bag forming too.  Those are created from the scored lines along the side.  Go ahead and define the sides more too.

Decorate!  I thought the color of the Kraft matched our Gimme Some Sugar paper (X7228B) really well, so I went with that.  : )
The "You are the Sunshine in my pocket" stamp is one stamp, so I stamped it once on a 2.5" circle (thin cut Basic Circles - Z3318) in Peacock ink (Z2849), cleaned it, and stamped it again on scratch White Daisy using Tangerine ink (Z2809).  I used a paper trimmer to cut just below and above the dotted lines (highlighting "SUNSHINE"), bannered the edges, inked the edges with Tangerine, and mounted it with Thin 3D Foam (Z2060).  I also inked the edge of my circle with Peacock ink.
For the single flower (that's a single stamp too),  I stamped it once in Tangerine ink, and created a second generation with Juniper ink (Z2865).  Have I ever mentioned that I'm anal?!  I cut around the Tangerine flower, and when I cut the Juniper image, I cut off the ends of the flower.  Most of the Juniper flower is still there, for placement and anchor, of the Tangerine flower that I glued directly onto the Juniper flower.
For the handles, I cut them shorter, removing the envelope flap.  I used the bone folder to create the curve of the handles.  That's achieved the same way you curl curling ribbon with scissors.  The bone folder doesn't damage the paper though.  : o  Bonding memories was applied to the ends of the ribbon to adhere them to the bag.

Fill it!  Put a small surprise in your bag, and watch the recipients face light up when they receive the bag!  : )

Sunny Thoughts (S1802) has additional good stamp images.  It's only available through the end of the month.  Don't wait, we're halfway through February already!!

Flower Market Cricut Collection - Delphinium Flower

Here's a third card inspired by a fellow consultant - Julie Carriere - with her Canadian floral cards.  She had used the Cricut Hello Canada (Z3391) Collection to create her cards.  I'm still using Flower Market Collection (Z3290 digital or Z3285 physical).  This time I went with the Delphinium flower  because they're supposed to be a fall/winter bloom.  I only made one orientation.  Another  smile on my face.  : )

With this card, I went with the blues.  Crystal Blue (X5977). It's hard to see in the picture, but some of the flowers are the back side of the Crystal Blue cardstock (so it's a different hue).  The center of the flowers is Linen cardstock (X5946), the flower stock and flower centers are Nutmeg cardstock (X5951), and "hello" is my standard Black cardstock (1386).

The flowers were raised with the Thin 3D foam (Z2060).  Have I mentioned how nice it is to cut the foam with our Non-stick Micro-tip scissors (X1836)?  There is no residual tape left on the blades!  I just can't get over how nice that is!

Anyway, the Delphinium flowers  are found on the Flower Market cartridge on page 4!
There are three keys needed the shift key is involved too, so I guess I could say there are 6 keys needed):
<4><flower-1>, <4><flower-1><shift>, <4><flower-2>, <4><flower-2><shift>, <4><icon>, and <4><icon><shift>.

"hello" can be found on page 1, or at <1><title>.  I went with a generic saying, but you could use the font to create whatever you'd like.  You could even weld the letters together to have an easier go at putting the word on your card.

Finally, the background is White Daisy(1385) cardstock dry embossed with the Buffalo Plaid (Z4032) Embossing Folder.  That 4" x 5.25" White Daisy paper sits on top of a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Crystal Blue cardstock.

I've got one more card to show you.  Until next time!

Flower Market Cricut Collection Card - Poppy

Here's another card inspired by a fellow consultant - Julie Carriere - with her Canadian floral cards.  She had used the Cricut Hello Canada (Z3391) Collection to create her cards.  Since trying to use my resources wisely (aka, not spending a lot of money), still using Flower Market Collection (Z3290 digital or Z3285 physical).  I love these Poppy cards!  They are so happy  : )

The poppy can be found on page 45.  The images cover <poppy><flower-1>, <flower-2>, <Icon>, and <shift><Background>.

Colors are Nutmeg (dark part)(X5951), Poppy (large part of flower)(X5963), Cranberry (accent of Poppy)(X5975), and Sweet Leaf (stem)(X5980).  And the saying is once again Black (1386).  The base of cards are from Poppy cut to 4" x 5.25" and White Daisy (1385).  Both are dry embossed with the Buffalo Plaid (Z4032) Embossing Folder.

After the flowers were glued together, glue them down to the card front.  "Thanks a Bunch" is also glued down to the White Daisy cardstock.

"hello" has been raised with Thin 3D foam tape (Z2060).  Very small pieces are best cut with our Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors (X1836).















Here they are together:

Flower Market Floral Cards - Iris

I was inspired by a fellow consultant - Julie Carriere - with her Canadian floral cards.  She had used the Cricut Hello Canada (Z3391) Collection to create her cards.  Since I am trying to use my resources wisely (aka, not spending a lot of money), I thought I would try using Flower Market Collection (Z3290 digital or Z3285 physical).  I'm really happy with the results.  : )

This first card is using the Iris flower:

The card on the left was supposed to be oriented in the other direction.  I had glued everything down before I realized my mistake.  Oh, well!

I just love the embossed backgrounds.  They add dimension to the cards without being distracting.

The Iris (pg 37 - <m><flower-1>, <shift><m><flower-1>, <m><flower-2>, and <shift><m><flower-2>is made from the front and the backside of Eggplant cardstock (X5956).  I love how the paper is now two-toned! The stamen is made from Saffron cardstock (X5961), by cutting the background flower a second time.  Then I hand cut the excess off.  I wanted to keep the openness of the flower top.  : )

The stems on the left are both from Fern cardstock (X5930), while the foreground iris on the right utilized New England Ivy cardstock (X5959).

Finally, the words are cut from Black cardstock (1386).  My favorite base for cards is the White Daisy Value Pack (X254).  The flowers and words are popped from the page with the help of using White Daisy cardstock (1385).

I raised the foreground flower with Thin 3D foam (Z2060).  "Thanks" is only the first part of the "Thanks a Bunch" saying (pg. 3 - <3><title>).

For this card, I went with the modern Buffalo Plaid (Z4032) Embossing Envelope - only available through Dec. 31, 2017.

I hand cut off the smaller flower's bud.  I thought it would detract from the overall look.

You could add some Shimmer Brush (clear - Z3293) accent to the flowers or the background.  I took the pictures before I did that - it had been my intention.  But, at the same time, it isn't necessary.
Background: Eggplant cut to 4" x 5.25".  White embossed cut to 3.75" x 5" before embossed.



For this second card, I made the iris' larger.  I popped the foreground iris up with the Thin 3D foam.

This time I used the Leaves (Z4031) Embossing Folder - again, only available through Dec. 31, 2017.  I used the "back" of the embossed leaves.  I thought it had a cooler look that the other side.  : )

The Eggplant cardstock background was cut at 4.25" x 5.5".  The White Daisy cardstock to 4" x 5.25".

"hello" came from pg 1<shift><1><title>.