18 and Fabulous!

This is the card I created for my dear niece who recently celebrated her 18th birthday. This was my very first non-wedding related project after the wedding, and I really struggled to get my mojo back! This was also my first time trying out the very cool Sliding Money Card and tutorial posted by my best blogging pal Patti on her blog, Creations By Patti. Just made a few size adjustments to accomodate the larger front panel...

For the front panel of my card, I used "Lori" (page 29) from the Cricut Rock Princess cart. Didn't care for Lori's eyes on the original cutfile, so I used Design Studio to give her "Andrea's" eyes (page 34), which are larger, and much easier for my Cricut to cut! I used MTC to make cutfiles for the number "18" and the ampersand using Pharmacy truetype font, layering them on a panel embossed  with a folder from Sizzix Valentine Set #2. The lacy border was also created in MTC using an image I found via Google image search.

The neatest thing about this card is that pulling on the tab on the right allows the front panel to slide to the side...

Revealing the card hidden inside....

...where I placed a panel to hold a small vellum envelope for a gift card or monetary gift.

A cut from Cricut's Lacy Labels cart was used to do the label with the Happy Birthday sentiments on the inside of the card. And I used MTC to create the other two lacy panels using images found on the internet and the word "Fabulous" using Freebooter Script font.

So you see, I haven't given up on my Cricut completely...LOL, I have both my Cricut and Cameo sitting side by side next to my computer so I can easily switch cutters as needed! On this particular card, I used the Cameo to do all the lacy label and border cuts and the word "Fabulous"; and the Cricut to cut everything else. As much as I love the precision of my new Silhouette Cameo, I must admit it's still much quicker to use a cartridge with ready made files on hand than having to go searching for an image or a file on the internet. I'm happy to have the best of both worlds!

...love you, Mom!

Taking another break from posting wedding stuff this week to share a few things I created for Mothers Day this year. Made two of these sliding shadow box cards for my mom and mil... 

The original design for this was inspired by a tutorial by Lynn Mercurio over at Splitcoast Stampers for her recessed window card. I fiddled with the measurements a bit to increase the depth on the inside to 3/4" so the flowers would fit, and covered the front with a sheet of acetate. Then I made and adhered a box bottom to the back so it would look like a shadowbox.

The petals for the large pink flower were cut from Cricut Mothers Day Bouquet cartridge, tiny blossoms were punched from a Carl Kikyo flower punch, and cream colored flowers are readymades from All Natural Accents. Leaves were punched from a large leaf punch and run through a crimper, tiny branches are from a Martha Stewart punch and leafy flourish is from Cheery Lynn's Fanciful Flourish die. Cuttlebug Jamara embossing folder was used for the textured back panel.

Both the sentiment (Chopin Script) and the lacy bordered frame were created in MTC, then glued on to the front of the acetate window.

Then to add some fun, I added the shadow box to the front of a slider card mechanism...pulling the ribboned tab on the side of the shadowbox makes it slide to the right, revealing a card with our Mothers Day greeting. I also added a little vellum envelope on the inside to hold a giftcard or monetary gift. You can find a tutorial for this very clever slider card from my best blogging friend Patti over at her blog, Creations By Patti. Again, I did a few size adjustments so the slider would fit my shadowbox..

Next I made gift bags and decorated them for the mochi I planned to give to the moms at our Mothers Day dinner. Originally I bought plain white gift bags with the intention of decorating them, but realized later that they were too small. In desperation I ended up having to make my own using a large shoebox as a template and doubled layers of white wrapping paper with ribbon for the handles.

For the kokeshi dolls, I created a cutfile in MTC using a scanned image of a cute little kokeshi doll head notepad I recently picked up at a tradeshow. Then for the doll body, I used the adorable Kyoto Cuties cutfile created and shared as a freebie by Jin on her blog at Under A Cherry Tree.

The branches were cut from Cricut Home Decor cartridge, and plum blossoms are the same file as on the kokeshi doll's head, sized smaller. I used  truetype font Segoe Script and MTC to create the Happy Mothers Day sentiment and paper punched hearts for a simple border.

Now for the funnest part...I finally got my hands on some Action Wobbles....and just couldn't resist trying them out on the kokeshi doll heads. LOL, I thought it was cute how they reminded me of those bobble head dolls. So much fun!

And oooh....here's a peek at the tray of haupia (coconut custard), peanut butter, strawberry and chocolate filled mochi that I got from Happy Hearts Mochi that went inside the bags... mmm... yummers! Happy Mothers Day!