December 14th

Welcome to Erica's Craft Room

25 Days of Christmas,

with 25 Cricut projects a day.

Don't forget to stop by Erica's blog to see 24 more projects today....

and every day in December.

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

For my project I made 2 ornaments.   The first ornaments I made using Winter Lace and Vinyl.

Vinyl is really easy to cut on the cricut, not so easy to put on a round ornament.   I found that the more delicate snowflakes were much easier to place on the ornament than the more full shaped ones.  

First I took my ornaments and filled them with Delta Creamcoat Varnish.  It is pretty thick but it works, it probably just takes a lot longer to let the varnish drip out than if you used the floor stuff.   I wasn't very patient and probably should have let the excess drip out longer.   I then poured in Martha Stewart Blue Sapphire Glitter and let it dry.

To cut out the vinyl snowflakes I used the kiss cut.   The kiss cut means you do not cut through the backing paper and that makes it much easier to work with.  I used Stampin Up Vinyl and their transfer paper.

I cut Accent 4 at 2.11 x 2.417 and Snowflake 6 at 2.22 x 2.417.   I also tried to cut Accent 6 and Star and those were a major pain to put on the ornament.   I set my expression at  Blade 3, Speed 1 and Pressure 2.   Once it is cut, you get to pick out all the tiny pieces so that the only thing left on the backing is the snowflake. I cut a piece of transfer paper to fit the snowflake and placed it sticky side down on my snowflake and went over it with my scissors handle to make sure the transfer paper was stuck to the snowflake.    Now remove the backing paper and you are ready to carefully place the snowflake on the ornament.  It works best to start from the center and work your way out.    

I then added a beaded hanger that I made a few years ago and pulled some thick silver tulle through the top of the ornament and tied a knot.

My 2nd Ornament is a Baby's First Christmas Ornament.   

I used a block from a set that I picked up at Salvation Army.   I sanded the paint to rough it up and then used  a thin coat of Modge Podge to adhere paper from Recollections Holiday Traditions 4.5 x 6.5 paper pack.   I  use pieces that are cut a bit bigger and I then cut the paper off using a finger nail file.  I like the sanded edges but I had to be more careful this time because of the photo printed on photo paper would not appreciate being sanded.   After all the pieces were attached I went over all the edges with Walnut Distress Ink.  

I then cut out a tiny 1st using A Child's Year cut at .569 x .833 welded and Stamped Christmas on the block.   The tree is from Winter Frolic (Tree 3-s) cut at 1.125 x 1.736.  I then cut 2- 2010 from George and Basic Shapes at 1.569 x .944 out of gold paper to use as a charm for the ornament.

To finish the ornament I screwed a tiny screw eye into the center of the block then attached the charm using a couple of jump rings and tied a bow and a hanger using some gold ribbon.

I'm not sure how this will hold up over time.  I would like to put a protective finish on it, but I am not sure what I should use.   If you have an idea, I would love to hear about it in a comment.

Laurie

December 6th

Welcome to Erica's Craft Room

25 Days of Christmas,

with 25 Cricut projects a day.

Don't forget to stop by Erica's blog to see 24 more projects today....

and every day in December.

http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Today's theme is sports and I created a layout about my favorite winter sport, snowmobiling.

I used Potpourri Basket for the Snowflakes and A Child's Year for the photo mat.  

5.5 x 4.3 Photo mat 

Various size snowflakes approximate sizes is 2.1 x 2.3.   I just filled the page with snowflakes and then placed papers on the mat so I would have assorted colors.

Papers used are from DCWV Green pack, White is AC textured cardstock.

A snowflake punch.

I also used Karen Foster Stickers.   I love her papers and embellishments, she has the best for boys and more masculine projects.   I especially love the sentiment "The more snow the better" on the small sticker.

To make this I first made a rough design in Cricut Craft Room, sort of laying out the general placement of everything and getting the snowflakes sized.   I then cut a strip of paper to use as my starting point on the page.   Adding the mat, then the stickers to see the placement.     Now the snowflakes, I just took the ones I cut, along with the ones I punched and just layered them until I liked how it looked.   I also added gold Distress Stickles to the snowflakes to give them some dimension and sparkle.   I love how the stickles curl up the snowflakes a bit.   I then topped the snowflakes with blue, brown and gray buttons that I tied crochet thread through.  I then attached all the pieces to the background paper using my ATG gun, pop dots and Glossy Accents.   

I hope I have inspired you or given you some new ideas to use in your projects.   If you haven't thought of using crochet thread, I very highly recommend it as it is cheap and comes in assorted colors.   I also very highly recommend using Glossy Accents as adhesive on smaller pieces because if you accidentally get it in the wrong place, you don't end up with a sticky residue on your finished product.

Hope you are enjoying our projects in 25 days of projects!

Laurie

Learning the Gypsy!

After borrowing my sister's Expression to make Baby Shower Decorations, I really wanted to get one of my own.   Instead I got a Baby Bug and Gypsy Bundle at Best Buy!   At the time I didn't know what the Gypsy was all about and didn't think I needed it.   Like everything else I dove right in and slowly learned what this tiny little piece of technology was all about and today, I feel pretty confident that I still have a lot to learn!  Despite the limitations of the Baby Bug, I am still able to do quite a bit with a few cartridges and my wonderful Gypsy!

So what can I make with my Gypsy?  

It was easy too!   I used A Child's Year and the tree and grass are from Gypsy Wanderings.

 The next one was even easier because I only used one layer.

Ok so how did I do this and what did I learn.    Notice in the green cut how the outer edges doesn't fit the card.   I selected the silhouette rectangle on George and Basic Shapes and set the size at 4 x 5.25 inches and it cut at 4 x 4 7/8ths instead.   What I learned is it is always good to use cheap paper and to pay attention to the outer frame on the selected die cut.   I set the rectangle at 5.75 x 4.44 inches on the brown cut and it is close enough.    Next I selected the tree from Christmas Cards, hid the horse and buggy and then manipulated the size of the tree to get the size I thought I wanted.   Next, I added, the fishing boy from A Child's Year and resized it.   Ok so one of the best features of the Gypsy is the Weld Feature.   I simply highlighted the 3 objects and hit the weld button.  Then cut it.  Now I just need to turn it into a card.   I'm thinking a Father's Day Card. 

You can do this too!   Just find the shapes you would like to use and have fun!