Day 23 Angels

 Today is Day 23 of the 25 Days crafting showcase and the theme is Angels.

I used my Cricut again today and cut this lovely angel card using the Christmas Cards cartridge for the base card and Joys of the Season for the angel.

I used the Cricut Craft Room to size my images and to cut the scalloped circles for the layers.

I embossed the angel's wings and dress and added some sparkle to her wings and trumpet with Kindiglitz.

I embossed the front of the card using the swiss dots folder then layered the images on top.

The words are peeloffs as I did not have any stamp sentiments that would have fitted where I needed them to go.

Please do check out the rest of the projects from the team over here. While you are there, you can pick up the freebie files for today. The cutting file and the digi image are just so cute!

This is my last post in this 25 Days Year Round and Christmas Showcase. What an amazing journey it has been with the very talented team over at My Paper Crafting. Melin has designed some awesome cutting files and digi files and they are so easy to use as well.
Thanks for having me Melin!

Day 22 Fast 'n Fabulous

 Today's project for the 25 Days Christmas and Year Round Crafting Showcase over at My Paper Crafting is based on the theme - Fast 'n Fabulous.

I wanted to use a Cricut cartridge for this one so I chose the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2 cartridge.
This is one I have used a lot lately and each time I look at the book I see some different ideas.

My project really was fast! It is a holder for a gift card - such a handy present these days when you don't know what to get for that person who has everything.

I cut the shape using the Cricut Craft Room program to size it properly to fit the gift card.

After cutting it, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using a holly leaves embossing folder. I added a digi image from MPC layered on a Spellbinders scalloped circle.

The gift card holder is closed with a ribbon.

It really was Fast 'n Fabulous! I guess it took me all of 10 minutes to make it...

Please go over to the blog at MPC to take a look at the other gorgeous projects made  by the very talented team and leave a comment. You can also get the freebie digital image shown below.

Day 21 MPC 25 Days Crafting Showcase

Sounds of the Season is the theme for today's post. Melin has created a beautiful harp digital stamp and cutting file for today's freebie and I have used the cutting file for my project.

I cut the base card from kraft card and the top layers from gold coloured card. There are two layers on the top, one with the "strings" of the harp.

The holly leaves and berries are from the Candle cutting file which was one of the earlier files offered in the 25 Days Showcase.

The flourish is from the Frame 'n Flourish cutting file available from My Paper Crafting. 

I printed the words using the computer then cut the banner using the tattered banners die from Tim Holtz (Sizzix).

Pop on over to MPC to pick up today's free files - the harp digi and cutting files.

Christmas Wreath

I saw this gorgeous Christmas Wreath on a You Tube video recently and wanted to try it out. Check it out at www.JennaDeAngeles.com. Mine is a slightly simpler version as I didn't go back and check the one she did before I made mine!
I used an old book and some cheap ornaments from K Mart to make the wreath and it took only a couple of hours to put it all together.




I gave it a spritz with some gold glimmer spray just to give it a bit of sparkle.
It does look lovely on the wall!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 15 MPC 25 Days Showcase

Rudolf and friends is the theme for today's 25 Days showcase and I have used my Cricut and a lovely cartridge of Christmas Cards.

I used the card design featuring the sleigh from the Christmas Cards cartridge, but instead of the sleigh, I used the reindeer from the Teresa Collins December 25 cartridge. To get the image facing the way I needed, I had to flip it before cutting it out.

The card base was cut from light green cardstock and the background layer from white. The green layer formed the border and the houses, and I cut the tree and reindeer from brown cardstock.

The greeting is a peel off applied to the bottom of the card.

Please visit the rest of today's design team over at My Paper Crafting and while you are there, check out the lovely freebie files for today!

There is a cutting file and a digi file of Rudy!

Day 8 25 Days MPC Showcase

 Today's projects are all about Candles and Lights and Melin has created a beautiful cutting file as a freebie for today. You can get it over at My Paper Crafting and while you are there, please check out all the other beautiful projects created by some of the 30 designers on the team for this showcase.

I used the freebie cutting file to create my project today.

First, I imported the cutting file into SCAL2 and created a shadow layer for the cutting file by leaving all the layers grouped.  This is quite useful as it enables you to get the different pieces in the right place to produce your project.

I will post a tutorial on how to create a shadow layer using Melin's cutting files and SCAL2.

I embossed the top layers of the candles and edged them with weathered wood distress ink.

For the leaves, I created veins on then using an embossing tool and I added glossy accents to the holly berries to give them some shine.

This project is about 8" high and is currently hanging on the edge of my mantlepiece as part of my Christmas decorations.

Day 7 MPC 25 Days Showcase

Today's theme for the 25 Days Showcase over at Paper Crafting World is April - Flowers and Showers.

The free cutting file for today is such a lovely tag that I just had to use it.

I used the cutting file and my Cricut to cut the layers for the tag.

I embossed the tag with the Swiss Dots embossing folder then layered the various coloured layers on top.

For the butterfly, I added some dimensional sparkle to the patterned layer to make it stand out.

To finish this tag off, I intend to add a photo to the centre oval as it is part of a project I am working on. But I am not adding the picture until the project is nearling completion. Check back in a month or so to see the finished project!

To get this free cutting file, head over to My Paper Crafting and check it out. Do take a look at the other beautiful projects for today as well.

25 Days Christmas and Year Round Crafting Showcase

 Welcome to my first post for the 25 Days Christmas and Year Round Crafting Showcase hosted by My Paper Crafting.com.

The theme for today is March - Easter - Passover and I chose to use the free digi file on offer today.

I made a side step card for this project and covered the base card with a spotted lilac paper.

I printed out the digi several times and cut the grass layer along with the bow, eggs and basket. I layered them up with foam pads then attached to the card.

I added some die cut swirls with a triple loop bow.

The little easter eggs scattered in the grass and along the step of the card were punched from different coloured papers and attached to the card.  I stamped the sentiment on a square card and punched the corners with a butterfly corner punch.

Do go over to My Paper Crafting to check out all the other beautiful projects for today.

This is the digi file I used and you can get it from PCW. There is also a cutting file of the same image available.

Tutorial: Adding a shadow layer to a cutting file

Adding a Shadow Layer to a cutting file using SCAL2

The cutting file used in this example is from www.mypapercraft.com. The files are shown as they are imported into the program and in the final layout format. This is what the file should look like once it has been put together.

1. Open SCAL2 and import the svg (File: Import or Ctrl+Shift+I). Size it to the final size you want to cut. Make a copy of the image by clicking Ctrl+C and paste this onto another page. It is important to do this so that the shadow layer you are going to create and the cutting file are the same size. You can then cut your project using the original file on the next page.

2. Ungroup the image. (Object: Ungroup or Ctrl+Shift+G) Now select all of the pieces by “drawing” a square around all of the pieces.

3. Making sure the image is selected, you now need to weld the pieces together. (Path: Union) This is what your image will look like now.

      4. The next step is to make this image into a shadow layer. Go to the Appearance box which will be displayed when you click on the image on the mat. Choose the drop down box beside style and select one of the three shadow styles.

Click on each one in turn to see which will be the best for your shadow layer.

5.  This is your final shadow layer.

      6. The resulting layer will give you a background that is slightly larger than the original cutting file and can be cut in a contrasting colour. If you don’t want a shadow layer, you can cut the image before changing it to a shadow and use this as the base for your cutting file.

Day 3 25 Days Showcase

 Here it is, Day 3 of the 25 Days Christmas and Year Round Crafting Showcase from My Paper Crafting. The theme for today is Pretty Poinsettias, Pinecones and Presents.

Melin has created this beautiful cutting file of a poinsettia that I have used to make Christmas decorations for my house.

I  created a shadow layer for the poinsettia using SCAL2. Then I cut the parts of the flower.

After cutting, I embossed all the parts of the flower using the swiss dots embossing folder.

In the centre of the flower, I added gold pearl dots.

The file is a freebie over at MPC today so head on over there to get it.

CMW Monthly Challenge

 This month, the DT at the CMW Monthly Challenge set the task of using digi papers, images and clip art from the CMW Printable Craft Shop.

I made two cards to set the tone for the challenge. The first one used a clip art image of an angel (from the Angels Collection) and the background paper from the Painted Birdhouses Collection.

I love these images!

I got the idea for this tent fold card from a Split Coast Stampers tutorial.

The papers and image I used were from the Valentines Collection.  I printed everything onto 160gsm cardstock, then attached to heavier card. The front part of the card was die cut with a Spellbinders labels die and I kept the negative part of the die cut.

The image was carefully cut out then attached to the front of the card using jump rings.
I die cut the heart then stamped it (both Tim Holtz products), edged with distress ink then attached to the front with die cut vines and some small flowers.


The front and back of the card were attached to a folded piece that acts as the base of the card, then they were joined at the top using heart shaped brads.

The picture at the right shows how the card stands up. It folds flat for posting!

Another Holiday Challenge!

Today's CWC Wonderful Wednesday Challenge is about Red or green Holidays, using, of course, a Cricut Cartridge!

I decided to make a tag instead of a card for the project today and it was time to get inky again after "clean crafting" for quite a while!

I used the Teresa Collins December 25 digital cart in the Cricut Craft Room to cut the letters, numbers and the tree.

I die cut a tag using a Tim Holtz Bigz die then stamped it with a wings stamp using picket fence distress ink. It is a little difficult to see this in the picture, but it is there! I then inked the tag with Iced Spruce, Evergreen Bough and Festive Berries distress inks to get the colours into the tag.

The die cuts were attached, then covered with Glossy Accents.

I stamped a snowflake stamp with Archival Black ink and Picket Fence distress ink to add some more detail.

I coloured the seam binding using festive berries and evergreen bough distress inks and attached to the tag with some bead charms that I made.

It was good to get inky again! I have been CAS for too long!!

Do join us for this week's challenge over at PCW, the last one before the fun begins with the 25 Days Showcase begins.

Holiday Challenge

Today's Paper Crafting World Terrific Tuesday Challenge is all about Holidays using red or green.

I chose to go with red today and used the lovely angel digi stamp to create my topper for the card.

I coloured the image using Photoshop Elements. This was a bit of an experiment but it seemed to work reasonably well. I kept the colours minimal in the image so that it looks a bit more subtle.

The card base was embossed using the Cuttlebug and a Nellie Snellen scalloped oval die. I really like the way it has turned out with the raised bits on the outside of the card.

I added a white layer by cutting a slightly smaller scalloped oval die from the same set. I layered the cut out angel using foam pads to give some depth.

The greeting was stamped onto a die cut oval and the ribbon tags added. The greeting stamp is from Gina K.


To finish the card off, I stamped corner flourishes in each corner and embossed with gold EP.

Do join us over at PCW this week for the final challenge in the Fall series. Next week the fun really begins with the 25 Days Christmas and Year Round Crafting Showcase with new digi and cutting files each day and some wonderful projects created by the superb design team. 

Copper - Terrific Tuesdays Challenge

Welcome to another weekly challenge over at My Paper Crafting.

The theme for this week is Copper - very appropriate for the autumnal season in the northern hemisphere - but not so relevant here in the southern hemisphere.

I used the acorn and flourishes cutting file for this challenge. I cut the branch from brown card and the acorns from lighter shades. I also cut a shadow background for the image as well, but it does not show as well in the picture as it does in reality.

The acorns were embossed with embossing folders then covered with distress stickles to give them a bit more depth of colour. I also added glossy accents to the acorn caps and to the swirl.


I cut the scalloped oval and flourishes for the corners from coloured card using spellbinders dies. The brads were originally silver, but I embossed them with copper embossing powder.

The sentiment was stamped then embossed with copper EP.


Please do join us over at My Paper Crafting for the challenge this week. You can pick up this lovely file there as well.

25 Days Crafting Showcase

Wow! It is here again for the third year - the 25 Days Crafting Showcase over at My Paper Crafting.

Melin has just announced the design team and what a talented team it is. You should see some of the beautiful things they have produced for the showcase already! Of course, you won't see them till the showcase begins on December 1st, but I have had a sneaky peek and the work is just stunning.

We hope you will join us in the fun and frolics and grab some of the gorgeous freebies that Melin has designed especially for this showcase.There will be a new theme each day from December 1st right up to December 25th. Each day, projects will be presented that have been made using either Cricut cartridges, svg files and/or digi images from Melin's stunning collections over at the shop at My Paper Crafting.

Looking forward to bringing you some lovely projects from here as well!!

Terrific Tuesday Challenge - Anything Goes

This week's challenge over at Terrific Tuesdays on My Paper crafting is anything goes but use your stash! Well, using my stash was not hard as I have so much!




I used the Fall Wreath file from the lovely Melin at MPC to make the wreath using scrap card and old kraft coloured folders that I had kept for a "rainy day!"
I cut 4 of the circles from the kraft folders to make the ring as it needed some stability and I glued them together.
The leaves and acorns were cut from scraps of coloured card, then embossed with the Cuttlebug using various folders. The leaves were then layered onto the ring building up layers. The acorns were coloured with distress inks then covered with glossy accents and distress stickles.
The words were cut using the cricut and layered on the wreath.
Check out the other gorgeous designs over at MPC.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Bingo! Wonderful Wednesday Cricut Challenge

 This week's Wonderful Wednesday Challenge is a Festive and Fun Bingo.

 I chose the vertical line in the centre of the grid for my card today.

I used flowers (cut with the Cricut and rolled), ribbon (around the layer on the card) and embossing (on the card).

I used acetate to make the card and embossed it with the Cuttlebug, I rounded the corners to remove the sharpness.

The layers were cut using the Cricut then edged with Victorian Velvet distress ink.

The flowers were rolled then the petals were rounded to provide some additional shape to the flowers. I added some distress ink to these as well. The leaves were die cut from hand made paper.

I made a bow with my bow maker and attached it to the ribbon.

Please join us over at Crafting with Cutters this week for this challenge and pick up the freebie for the week as well.

Festive and Fun Bingo Terrific Tuesday Challenge

Today's Terrific Tuesday Challenge over at Paper Crafting World is a Festive and Fun Bingo.






The project needs to be done according to a Bingo line.

I chose to do the diagonal line from the top left - Embossing, Die Cut, Ink.

The image I used is the Snowman image from Paper Crafting World. I printed it in colour after adding the Merry Christmas greeting to the bottom.

I used a rectangular die to cut the image out and ined the edges with Weathered Wood Distress ink before removing the card from the die.

The red layer was embossed in the Cuttlebug then layered onto white card. I added some ribbon to these two layers then attached the image layer.

On the base card, I embossed two lines at the top and bottom of the card, then added a strip of gold peel-off in the centre of the double lines.

Please join us this week for this fun challenge and pick up the freebie digi stamp as well.