Thank You Berry Much

Don't you love finding unexpected images on your Cricut cartridges? That's what happened when I decided to make this thank you card. I had decided to use the stamp from My Pink Stamper's Fruit and Vege Puns set and did a search on the Gypsy for a strawberry. This image was just what I had in mind and surprisingly it's on the Rock Princess cart. I never would have thought to look on that cart for a this cut!

The card base and strawberry are cut from Stampin Up Riding Hood Red paper. The green houndstooth paper is from GCD Studios, Melody Ross Collections. The collection is called Homespun Chic. I love this paper, it actually has a slight texture to it. The edges were cut using the wavy edge blade that came with the Your Story paper trimmer. The rest of the papers are scraps. The small center flower is cut from white glitter paper and all the flower layers were inked with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink. I also added some transparent Perle Pen by Viva Decor to the center of the flowers and the berry seeds, though that's hard to see in the picture. The stamped sentiment was heat embossed with black Ranger heat embossing powder. The off white grosgrain ribbon is from Offray.
I hope you too can find something fun and unexpected the next time you're looking for that perfect image!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Donate to help a family in need....

My Cricut sister Kymberlee has twin daughters who lost everything in a house fire and she's holding a Flame Free Party to help them out.

Proceeds from any size Scentsy order will be matched and all orders will be entered to win one of two $25 gift certificates.

She is also doing a drawing for an Imagine and a $5 donation will earn you one entry for a chance to win. Please visit her blog, The Paper Midwife for all the info.

Thank you!
Maria

A Onsie With The Imagine

This onsie was made for a challenge that was to use anything but paper. It was made using Heat Transfer paper and the Imagine. The heat transfer paper works by printing an image on it then ironing  it on to your fabric. When you select your image, remember to flip it before printing. The printed side is placed down on the fabric for ironing and if  you don't flip the image, it will be backwards on the garment. This would be ok with some images, like the one I chose, but not so good for letters! The transfer paper I used is Jet-Pro SoftStretch that I ordered  from an on line retailer. You can also find it in stores that carry printer paper. The brand I have is supposed to be used with a heat press, but my iron worked just fine for the process. The image is from the Imagine Nursery Tails cartridge.

There is one spot on one of the leaves on the bottom left that didn't transfer, but overall, it worked great. I also made a rosette with some lace and added a big pearl-like button to the center. The lace was white, but I colored it with a Copic marker, R01, pinkish vanilla. I washed and dried the lace it after I colored it to make sure the color wouldn't run. I like the feminine touch the rosette  adds to the onsie.
If you've been wanting to try this technique, I really recommend it. It was super easy; it actually took me longer to decide on a picture than it did to print and iron it on. I have some T-shirts I want to make for my oldest grandson, but I'm going to let him pick out his own design. He just loves making things in, as he calls it, my making room. Especially when it's something he gets to keep!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Texas Pennant

Recently PC did a contest for Circle members for the Road Trip to CHA. We were to use one of the pennant cuts on Birthday Bash and create a pennant to represent our state or region. Last weekend at the meetup they announced the winners and I'm happy to say mine won 4th place! This was only the second time I've entered a judged contest so I'm pretty excited to have placed.

I decided to create a montage of images that most people think of when they think of Texas. So I came up with the Alamo, a Texas Longhorn, an oil derrick and of course, blue bonnets. The background is the Texas flag. The Alamo was created on the Gypsy in two layers, one with all the details and one with just the outline. The detail layer was first drawn using Cricut markers, then the image was cut using the outline layer. I sanded the ink afterward with an emory board, crumpled it up a little then inked with Antique Linen distress ink. Several carts were used for this:George for the basic rectangles, PDDU for the arches on top, My World for the columns, Christmas for the door and windows and Home Accents for the dome on top. Want to guess what cut it is? It's a pear, well actually two. One was flipped horizontally then the two round ends were overlapped and welded.

The oil derrick is actually a windmill from Country Life. A black strip was added to the center then the top was hand cut. The oil is a splash from 3 Birds on Parade, cut several times, covered with glossy accents then accented with a white pen.

No Texas themed anything would be complete without a Longhorn! This cut is from Old West. It was cut in white then some spots were added with a SU Cajun Craze marker. The outlines were done with a black thin marker and the hooves were colored with a Copic T5 marker.The hooves and horns were covered with Glossy Accents. Then the whole cut was run through the Xyron to cover it with adhesive. After removing the adhesive from the hooves and horns, the cow was covered with off white flocking. I used a large sewing needle to remove the flocking from the black outlines.

The last thing to add were the blue bonnets. These are from the 50 States cartridge. I cut them in several sizes then colored them with a Copic B16 marker. White gel pen was used for the highlights.
All the elements were placed on the banner with foam adhesives in varying heights.  I kept the word Texas simple, figuring the images would speak for themselves. The letters are from Cricut Classic Font. The pennant was finished by adding a border of hemp twine around the edge which was tied in a lasso shape.
This was a fun, challenging project for me and I was really happy with how it turned out. Placing in the contest was just an added bonus! Congrats to everyone who entered and to the other winners!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria